Ricochet (5 page)

steady gaze. He glanced down at his belt as his

fingers fumbled while threading it through his

jeans.

"Oh, I think you're a much better actor than

you give yourself credit for," Daniel said gently.

Rick glanced up at him sharply, and Daniel

reached out, squeezed his arm briefly, and then he

left. Rick stared after him, feeling antsy after the

punishment although he had no idea why. His ass

was hot and sore, but that wasn't the problem. He

could handle that, but the weird emotions he was

experiencing weren't so easy to handle. He wasn't

sure what to do with himself, so he wandered over

to Matt's trailer and knocked on the door.

"You weren't there," Rick said, brushing past

Matt when he opened the door and going inside.

"No."

Rick turned to see Matt shrugging. "Why?

There was popcorn and soda. It was fun!"

"Not for me. Honestly, Rick, why do you get

yourself into these scrapes? It's all so avoidable.

Sometimes, I swear you go out of your way to

cause havoc. Why can't you just…?"

"Be more like you?" Rick raised an eyebrow.

"Counting every bird in the sky, every cookie on

the table, every time someone sneezes? Always

obeying the law to the letter, never getting into

trouble, and never once allowing yourself to let

your hair down and have a good time?"

"Oh for fuck's sake! I just like things to be in

their proper place and organized. It's simpler that

way. Anyway, why the hell do you care if I was

there or not?"

"I don't; I just wondered, that's all. I thought

you might still be mad at me for being late today."

Rick poked at the fruit in the bowl on Matt's

coffee table thoughtfully, like he was seriously

considering eating it.

"Leave it alone." Matt slapped his hand away.

"Everyone knows you haven't eaten anything

healthy since about 1973."

"Just how old do you think I am?" Rick asked,

pouting.

"You're thirty-two. Your birthday is on

November 5 when you'll be thirty-three," Matt told

him automatically. "It's numbers." He shrugged

apologetically. "I can't help myself; they stick in

my brain."

"You're weird, Matty." Rick stared at him, his

head on one side. "But as long as you're not still

mad at me, I don't care."

"I'm not still mad at you." Matt sighed. "I just

don't like the thought of you taking licks in public.

It's demeaning."

"Nah. It's fine. I'm a dom - I can handle it."

"Well, sometimes I've wondered," Matt said

thoughtfully.

"If I can handle it? Of course I can. I once -"

"Wondered if you're actually a dom. You do

play Alex Tanner very convincingly."

Rick looked up and then burst out laughing.

"Oh Matt. Matty Matt Mattser! I've known I was a

dom since I was about thirteen years old! But hey,

if you ever want me to top you just say the word,

and I'll prove it!" He gave Matt a lascivious wink.

"No, thank you," Matt replied primly. "I

prefer my doms a little more…"

"Boring? Talking of which, how is that

accountant

you're

dating?

Emmy,

Emma,

Ermentrude… whatever her name is."

"It's Emily, and she's fine. It's great.

Wonderful. And… uh… the sex is good!" Matt

thrust his chin out defensively as he said that.

"Oh, I'm sure the sex is very sensible, well-

organized and controlled." Rick grinned.

"Contrary to popular belief, it isn't actually

necessary for sparks to fly in order to have good

sex," Matt replied tartly. "Emily and I share

common values and attitudes and are very well

suited."

"Of course you are. Her job is counting things

and your hobby is counting things; it's a match

made in heaven."

"I've certainly kept count of how many stupid

things you've done since I met you," Matt retorted.

"Really?" Rick winked. "How many?"

"Sixty-two - if you count every single

instance of lateness as coming under the general

umbrella of 'late'. If you count each one

individually then it's 109."

"Wow. Can you list them all as well?"

"I can, starting with the day we first met,

when you showed up on your Harley making a loud

fanfare and parked it in the showrunner's parking

space."

"Hmm… you know, I can count too. For

example, I can count every single orgasm I've

given to every single sub I've ever topped. D'you

want to hear about those?"

Matt flushed. "No."

Rick laughed; teasing Matt was always so

much fun.

"Oh, you're infuriating. I can't believe I ever

felt sorry for you having to take public discipline!"

Matt said irritably. "Did it hurt by the way?"

"Nah. Well… yeah. But I deserved it. The

worst part was that Petra 'strongly suggested' I

shouldn't go out clubbing again until the hiatus."

"But that's four months away!"

"I know! That's what I said." Rick shook his

head mournfully. "She didn't care."

"Is she allowed to do that? I mean, you can do

what you like in your personal time, can't you?"

"Well, like I said, it was more a suggestion

than an order, but as she has the power to fire me I

guess I'll just have to do what she says." Rick

shrugged.

"Hah! Four months without clubbing? I bet

you don't last more than a week."

"A whole week?" Rick grinned. "Wow -

you've got a higher opinion of me than I thought. I

don't think I'll make it through the weekend!"

"If you get yourself fired, I'll never forgive

you," Matt said plaintively, sitting down on the

couch, next to the fruit bowl.

"Aw - this means you do actually like me

after all." Rick gave Matt a cat-got-the-cream

smile. "I knew you did really, even though you call

me names, and throw things at me, and stuff."

"I do not like you; I'm just thinking about all

the fuss the press will make if you go and get

yourself fired. They'll hang around my house for

weeks, looking for a quote."

"Nah - I think it's because you like me." Rick

flashed Matt his most infuriating grin and strode

towards the trailer door.

He managed to duck, just in time, as a well-

aimed apple almost hit the back of his head.

Really - subs throwing things at him twice in

one day? Rick chuckled to himself as he left the

trailer: he must be doing something right.

They filmed the rest of the day's scenes, and

then they had to do a publicity interview for the

entertainment show,
TeeVee
. Matt got changed

quickly from his Ben Harris clothes into his

Matthew Lake clothes - there wasn't much

difference in their styles, but Matt tended to be

more casual than Ben, who often wore suit pants

and a sports jacket to work; Matt preferred tee

shirts and jeans.

On his way back to the set, he was joined by

Karl Morgan, who was playing the new bad guy on

the show this season. He was a tall, lean man, with

olive skin, blond-brown hair, and dark eyes. He

was very good looking in an elegant, classy kind of

way, which suited his character - the smooth-

talking, sinister Jason Jarvis - down to the ground.

He was also British, with a cut glass accent that

half the subs in the crew kept swooning over.

"Hey, Matty! How are you?" Karl asked,

falling into step beside him.

"I'm fine… um… but…" Matt hesitated and

then ploughed on. "I don't want to be rude, Karl,

but I prefer Matt, or Matthew. Not Matty."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry - I thought everyone called

you Matty."

"No, only Rick; and I think he only does it to

annoy me."

"Oh, I see!" Karl grinned, and Matt tensed,

wondering if he should have admitted that.

Sometimes, when he told people not to do

something they did it all the more. At least, that

had been his experience in high school. Karl didn't

seem like any of the mean doms he'd known in high

school though because he just gave an easygoing

smile. "I've noticed Rick likes to tease. He's quite

the center of attention around here, isn't he? He's

such a larger than life kind of guy."

"Yeah, that's Rick. You get used to it. Or you

ignore him. Or throw things at him. Or all the

above." Matt grinned sideways at Karl. "That's

what I do!"

"Uh, Matt - can I ask you some questions

about Daniel?" Karl asked tentatively. "I've got a

few big scenes with him this episode, and I'm kind

of scared of him to be honest! I've seen all the

movies in the
Insubordination
franchise, and I'm a

huge fan of his. I don't want to screw up around

him."

Matt found himself relaxing. He didn't know

Karl that well yet, but he got the feeling that he

was a nice guy.

"Oh, don't worry about Daniel! He's nothing

like Tom Duke from
Insubordination
- or Chief

Christie come to that."

"That's a relief. I used to fantasize about Tom

Duke when I was a spotty adolescent - he's the

kind of tough sub that most doms would like to

tame in their fantasies, but I think I'd be threatened

by all those surly one liners if I met a sub like that

in real life!"

Matt laughed. "I love the
Insubordination

movies! They're such action classics. I wanted to

be Tom Duke when I was a kid, but I think even

then I knew I was never gonna be a tough sub.

Daniel is nothing like Tom Duke though, so don't

worry. He's really shy, and sometimes people

mistake that for aloofness but it's not - he's just

very reserved. You'll find him reading between

takes - or at the gym."

"Yeah, those biceps look even more

impressive in real life than onscreen." Karl

grimaced. "He's a scary-looking guy."

"He might look intimidating, but he's not

really. You'll do fine."

"Great. He's such a legend that I really don't

want to fuck up in our first big scene together

tomorrow."

"If you do, he'll help you fix it, so don't

worry."

Karl nodded thoughtfully. "I heard he lost his

wife a couple of years ago? Wasn't he married to

Suzanna Dawson?"

"Yeah, he was. She was his manager as well

as his wife and a huge Hollywood player. It almost

destroyed him when she died; I'm not sure he'll

ever get over that."

Matt wondered if Karl was interested in

Daniel in more than a purely professional sense,

and he hoped not, for Karl's sake. Daniel hadn't so

much as looked at another dom since his wife's

death. He even still wore her collar off set,

signaling very clearly that he still felt he belonged

to her and no other dom was going to get close.

Karl was also about ten years younger than Daniel

- was it possible that he had a crush on the older

sub?

They reached the set and found Sharlene

Milton, the petite, pretty presenter from
TeeVee
,

standing there, microphone and camera guy at the

ready.

Rick loped up a few seconds later - for once

he didn't keep them waiting, so Matt wondered if

the punishment he'd taken earlier had actually done

its job. Like Matt, Rick had got changed out of his

character's costume and was in his own clothes;

black leather pants, a tailored white shirt that clung

to his body and a dramatic, floor-length black

leather coat that showed off his broad shoulders to

perfection. His jaw length black hair was artfully

tousled, there was a pair of trendy new sunglasses

perched on his head, and he was wearing his

favorite item of jewelry - a thumb ring shaped like

a panther's head, made of white gold with rubies

for eyes.

Matt felt positively underdressed standing

beside him in a pair of faded jeans and a blue and

white plaid shirt with a scarf slung loosely around

his neck.

Petra got them all organized around Sharlene

- with Rick and Daniel, as the two big stars of the

show, on either side of her. Matt was placed