Ricochet (65 page)

already told him not to do this, but he won't listen.

I didn't get any sleep last night, but I don't know

what else I can do to stop it happening. It's his

life!"

Karl leaned in. "I know you're worried that

you'll hurt him - but Rule will hurt him more than

you ever could. You're not the danger here, Rick.

He is." He shook his head and walked away.

Rick steeled himself and then strode over to

where Matt and Rule were standing. He got the

usual unwanted inhalation of Rule's strong cologne

as he drew close, and the scent made him want to

throw up.

"So… last day of filming, huh?" he said to

Matt, purposefully ignoring Rule. Rule glared at

him.

"Yes. We're heading off to Sebastian's ranch

immediately after this," Matt said.

He was counting. Rick could see that. He was

counting everything in sight. "You nervous about

the scene?" Rick asked. "You shouldn't be; you're

doing great."

"No, I'm fine with the scene."

"Then why are you counting?" Rick asked.

Matt blinked nervously, and Rule stepped

forward and put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Matt's fine. He's looking forward to wrapping up

here, so we can start our new life together."

Matt flinched, almost imperceptibly, but Rick

caught it, and he felt a flare of anger that this

bastard was making Matt feel this way.

"In fact…" Rule gave a smug little smile, "I

was going to wait until we were on our way home,

darling, but maybe I should give you a sneak

preview now."

He reached into his pocket and took out a

smooth, elegant, solid gold case. "This is what I'll

be placing around your neck in a few days' time,"

Rule purred, opening the case to reveal the most

beautiful collar Rick had ever seen. It was made of

the same smooth gold as the case and indented

with sapphires. "To match your lovely blue eyes,"

Rule said, holding the case in front of Matt's nose.

The collar was displayed to exquisite perfection

on black silk, and it was so smooth, shiny and

perfect that it looked like it had been made out of

liquid. "I believe it's a design classic," Rule said

smugly.

Rick could see why any sub would want to

wear such a collar; Rule's eye for beautiful things

certainly hadn't failed him.

"Wow." Matt reached out his fingers but

didn't quite touch the collar, as if he was scared of

it - or of Rule, which was more likely. "That's a

very beautiful collar, Sebastian."

"It's certainly more appealing than the

monstrosity you're being offered in this little scene

you're filming." Rule smirked. "Please - show it to

your friends! I want everyone to see it!"

He called people over, and a little crowd

gathered around them to admire the collar.

Whatever they thought about Rule and his

relationship with Matt, it was hard not to be

impressed by such an exquisite item of jewelry,

and there was considerable interest in it, with

people congratulating Matt and commenting on

how good the collar would look around his neck.

Rule shot Rick a triumphant look as he closed

the box and replaced the collar in his pocket, and

Rick had never witnessed anyone try to so

obviously out-top him before. It made something

old in his blood stir, and he found himself squaring

his shoulders and glaring at Rule defiantly,

responding to the challenge. Rule gave a little

chuckle and walked back over to the side of the

set, still smiling smugly, looking sure that he'd just

played a trump card.

"Okay - we're ready now. Positions

everyone!" Chang called.

Matt went over to the blue tape on the floor of

the set that marked his position for the camera,

Karl took up his position on the green tape, and

Chang called "Action!" once more.

Rick didn't have to work hard to psyche

himself up for this particular scene. In a few days'

time Matt would be doing this for real, in front of

Sebastian Rule. He'd bend his head, and Rule

would place that slinky gold collar around his

neck… and then it'd be too late.

"
Ben, stop!
" Rick yelled, striding over to land

on his red piece of tape. "
It's a trap! Don't do it.
"

Out of the corner of his eye, Rick saw Rule

stifling a yawn while glancing at his watch. Then

he took out his cell phone and scrolled through it,

clearly tuning out the scene.

"Don't do it, Matt!" Rick said urgently. "Don't

let that bastard collar you!" Matt's eyes widened,

and Rick realized he'd gone off-script, but he

couldn't help it - his mouth seemed to have taken

on a mind of its own. "It's a huge mistake!" He

grabbed Matt's arms urgently.

"He's wrong for you. He just wants to lock

you away and control you. I know you, and I know

you're too damn proud to admit you made a

mistake, but please don't let him collar you,

Matty."

"Rick, what the hell are you doing?" Matt

tried to pull his arms away.

"He'll turn you into a zombie," Rick said

desperately. "He doesn't care about what you want

- he's steamrolling you into going along with

everything he wants. He's tapped into that

perfection complex of yours to make you anxious

to please him all the time, but it'll destroy you."

Matt stopped trying to pull his arms away and

gazed at him. "Rick, this is -"

"No, listen to me, Matty. I wouldn't do that to

you. I don't want to turn you into the perfect sub

just to please me. I love you just the way you are."

Rick paused, realizing what he'd just said. Matt

was staring at him, open-mouthed, looking stunned.

"You love me?"

"Yes, I love you, Matty. Of course I damn

well love you!" Rick let out a shaky laugh of

astonishment. "I've loved you for a very long time.

No, I don't just love you - I fucking adore you,

even with the OCD, and the counting, and the

weird neat freak stuff." Rick grinned at him

stupidly. "I love all that shit, Matty! I love

everything about you, and I wouldn't ever try and

change you. Look, I know I'm a fuck up, and not the

kind of dom your mom would ever want you to be

with, but I also know I'd do anything to make you

happy, and I'd never, ever hurt you."

He paused, blinking, and saw Karl grinning at

him insanely over Matt's shoulder. "I know that

now. I couldn't. I just couldn't," he said hoarsely.

Rule finally seemed to wake up to the fact that

they weren't acting anymore, and he strode onto the

set furiously. "What the hell do you think you're

doing, O'Shea?"

"What I should have done a long time ago,"

Rick retorted. "He will hurt you, Matty. He's

already hurting you." Rick touched Matt's chafed

wrist gently. "He's got into your head and twisted

you around, and I don't blame you for getting in so

deep because I know how doms like him work; I

saw it every day when I was growing up."

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Rule snapped. "I'm

not a conman like you. I warned you about this,

O'Shea!"

"You warned him?" Matt glanced at him

sharply, and Rick saw the fire was back in his

eyes. He hadn't realized how much it'd been

missing for the past few weeks until he saw it

return. "You warned him away from me,

Sebastian?"

"I merely had a conversation with him in

which I pointed out that you needed to be left alone

to get on with your new life unhindered by…"

"The baggage of the past?" Matt raised an

eyebrow. "Is that what my life is to you,

Sebastian? All just baggage for you to jettison the

way you got rid of my bag earlier?"

Rick grinned. This was his Matty, all fire and

brimstone, coming out all guns blazing.

"No, darling. It's not like that at all. Can we

go somewhere else? I really think this is a

conversation we should have in private." Rule

glanced around the film set, where everyone was

watching the real life drama unfold with rapt

attention.

"You'd like that," Rick said. "All you want to

do is drag him away to some remote place so you

can sink your pincers into him." He made a cutting

movement with his fingers.

"Pincers?" Rule rolled his eyes. "Don't be

ridiculous. Matt - come with me now please," he

said, in a commanding tone of voice.

"No, I don't think I will," Matt replied, and he

looked like he was waking up from a long sleep.

"Is there any part of my life you don't want to

control, Sebastian? The wrist cuff, getting all cozy

with my mom behind my back, telling me what to

wear and what I could bring to the ranch,

criticizing my choice of career…"

"I was being your guide, darling," Rule said

smoothly. "Educating your palate - you know, the

way we talked about? Come on, let's discuss this

in private."

"Discuss? Really discuss? Or will you tell

me what to do and then bully me into doing it, the

way you've been doing for weeks?"

"That's not fair, Matt. I've simply been acting

in your own best interests. Now enough of this

nonsense - come with me, and we can talk about

this properly. This is no place to be having such a

discussion." He put his hand on Matt's arm, and

Matt stiffened.

"Don't touch me," he snapped.

"Matt, you're being stupid."

"No, I think for the first time in a long time

I'm actually being pretty sensible. Take your hands

off me, Sebastian."

"Don't be absurd, Matt."

Rule fastened his hands around Matt's arms

and pulled him around to face him. Rick jumped

into action, but before he got a chance to do

anything, Matt pulled his right arm free and landed

a heartfelt punch on Rule's jaw. There was a

resounding crack, and Rule immediately pulled

back, clutching his bruised face.

"Nice one, Matt." Karl whistled.

"Here - you can have this back. We're done."

Matt reached into his pocket, took out the gold

cuff, and shoved it into Rule's hand. "Rick was

right - your bondage is too constricting,

Sebastian."

Rule gazed at him for a moment, as if

weighing up the situation, and then his mouth

settled into a hard line. He straightened up, pulled

his grey suit jacket back into place, and strode

away without another word. A cheer went up

around the set as he left.

Matt turned back to Rick. "So, you were

saying?" he said, a fiery glint in his eyes. Rick

grinned at him. Oh yeah; his Matty was back all

right.

"Matty, I love you!" he proclaimed loudly.

"I'm not a billionaire, and I don't own a gazillion

houses and helicopters. I'm not some suave,

sophisticated dom, and I can't compete with the

likes of Sebastian Rule, but I can promise you that

I will love and cherish you until the day I die."

Matt put his hands on his hips. "And?" he

prompted.

"And I'd love you to wear my collar, if you'll

have me?" Rick didn't have a collar but the one

thing he was good at was improvising, so he

reached up, undid Alex's collar from around his

own neck, and held it out to Matt, still warm from

where he'd been wearing it. "Okay, so it's not

perfect." Rick made a face. "But then neither am I.

It might not be gold and slinky and a design

classic, but it is honest, and… uh, if you say yes,

I'll buy you another one. Hell, I'll buy you dozens!

What do you say, Matty?"

Matt glared at him, and Rick grimaced."Uh,

you can punch me too, if you want," he offered,

pointing at his chin. "I deserve it for being such a

total idiot."

"You are an idiot," Matt said.

"I know. Can I be your idiot though?" Rick

asked, still holding up the collar.

"Only if I get the real Rick," Matt said. "Not

ridiculous Rick. I don't want the fake or the act. I

won't tolerate that, Rick, and if you ever try to be

him with me again…"

"I won't," Rick said quietly. "I promise you