Ricochet (19 page)

you said a few weeks ago, about how much you

love spanking your subs. You made it sound like

it's the most beautiful thing in the world to you, and

that's how I can understand that you'd miss it so

much."

"So, you're volunteering to let me spank you?"

Rick asked incredulously. Matt nodded, slowly.

"You mean, like a pity spank?" Rick growled.

"No! Nothing like that!"

"Sounds exactly like that! You guys all got

together and thought, 'Rick is being a pain in the

ass, so we'll send Matt over there to take pity on

him.' Damn it, with friends like you…"

"No!" Matt said quickly. He knelt down, put

his hands on Rick's knees, and gazed at him

earnestly. "Honestly - it wasn't like that. Everyone

really cares about you, and this was just a

suggestion. We all went along with it."

"But you're the one they sent over."

"Well, we had to draw straws - matches

really - to see who got to come over here and

offer, and it was me. Um - yay?"

Rick stared at him, trying to process this, and

then, eventually, he sighed. "Well, thank you, Matt

but it's a dumb idea."

"Is it though?" Matt asked gently. "I mean, if it

helps you, then why is it a dumb idea? I'm not

talking about sex… um… I think you know that.

Just a spank buddy. Plenty of people have those."

Rick really wished Matt wasn't kneeling in

front of him right now. He'd always had a

weakness for kneeling subs. "A spank buddy," he

said slowly, turning the idea around in his head.

"Just a daily spanking - no strings attached.

I'll come to your trailer every morning until things

get better for you, and we can, um, do it."

"No," Rick said, pushing Matt's hands off his

knees.

Matt sat back, looking upset. "Why?" he

asked. "Is it me? You don't like the idea of

spanking me? I'm not the right kind of sub, am I? I

don't do it for you."

"No!" Rick got up abruptly. "No, that's not it,"

he said more quietly, shaking his head. "You're

fine - I mean, look at you! You're beautiful - any

dom would love having you over their knees!"

Matt's eyes brightened. "Then why -"

"Matt - it's this," Rick interrupted him

forcefully. "In all the time I've known you, I've

never heard you talk about spanking - you never

even joke about. It doesn't seem to be something

you do with your doms. I have no idea if it's

something you enjoy or not - and the thing is,

there's no fun in it for me if the sub doesn't love it

too."

Matt sat back on his heels, looking up at Rick

with a surprised expression. "Oh," he said.

"Yeah. Oh." Rick rolled his eyes. "Maybe

that's something you guys should have thought of

before you came up with this crazy plan."

Matt gazed at the floor, looking utterly

miserable.

"Matt?" Rick crouched down in front of him.

"What's going on?"

Matt shook his head and stayed looking at the

floor as if he didn't trust himself to speak.

"Matt?" Rick reached out and put a gentle

hand on Matt's messy hair. "C'mon, buddy, this is

me! You've always been able to talk to me."

Matt peeped up at him. "You're right," he

said. "I never want to give my doms any reason to

spank me, so I always try very hard to be a good

sub. A couple of my doms have given me a few

swats with a switch or a strap or whatever… but it

wasn't fun. I never liked it. It was just punishment.

It wasn't sexy like it is in the movies or stories."

He made face. "It just seemed to be part of the

fucked up relationships I end up in."

"So maybe spanking isn't your thing," Rick

said quietly, still stroking Matt's hair. "That's okay.

Everyone likes different stuff. Estelle never stops

going on about her love of bondage; that sub has

been tied up every which way - and told us about

most of them." He gave a bark of laughter, and

Matt relaxed a little more under his hand.

"No, but you see, the thing is…" Matt pulled

himself up straight and looked Rick in the eye.

"The thing is… I'd like to try it. Doing it for fun

and pleasure rather than punishment, I mean. It's

something I've fantasized about for years - only I

haven't done it for real because I'm scared."

Rick frowned. "Scared of what?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe that I won't be able to let

go and get into it, so I'll ruin it for myself? Or…

or… that I'll get lost in it… that it'll pull me into

some place I don't want to go because it's too

deep, too intense, and too scary?"

"Like sub-space?" Rick asked.

Matt flushed. "Yes."

"But I thought you wanted to find your sub-

space?"

"I do! But I'm also scared of it too because it

sounds like such a terrifying place to be. No order,

no control, being helpless, and in someone else's

hands…" Matt shivered. "It's kind of my worst

nightmare and my deepest fantasy at the same

time."

"Maybe it'll take you to a place where you

don't have to count anymore."

Matt made a face. "I can't imagine that kind of

place. I want to believe it exists, but I'm me, so…"

He shrugged.

"Your problem is you overthink things,

Matty."

"Well… yeah." Matt spread his hands

helplessly. "Like I said, I'm me!"

"So, let me get this straight," Rick said,

feeling confused. "You submit yourself to these

soulless, sterile relationships where you let some

cold-hearted dom take a strap to your ass, which

you get no pleasure from whatsoever, and you can

handle that, but you're too scared to try out the fun

kind of spanking - one that's done for the sheer joy

of it, by someone who likes doing it, knows how to

do it properly, and wants it to be good for you?"

Rick asked, rocking back on his heels. "You're

weird, Matty."

That at least made Matt break into a grin.

"And you're, you know, you," he riposted.

"That's lame, Lake. I'm used to being called

an idiotic lunk and other choice insults by you, so

by comparison that one really sucked." Rick

grinned at him and then poked him in the ribs. Matt

knocked his hand away with a little laugh, and they

both relaxed.

Rick sat down beside Matt, with his back

against the couch, and put his arm around Matt's

shoulders. Matt rested his head on Rick's shoulder,

and it felt nice there, so they sat that way for a long

time, in silence.

"So," Rick said finally, turning his face to

look at Matt. "Would you like to try it?"

Matt felt his heart thud loudly inside his chest,

and he turned to look at Rick in surprise.

"Not because of some stupid pact you made

with the other guys in Karl's trailer," Rick said

firmly. "Not because of me or how dumb I've been

acting lately. Not for any other reason than that you

want to try it, to see if you'd like it."

This whole thing had gone so insanely badly

that Matt had thought he was off the hook, and he'd

been both relieved and disappointed at the

prospect of Rick turning down his offer. Now, it

seemed it was back on the table - only for an

entirely different reason.

"No strings, no obligations," Rick said. "You

don't have to please me, or pretend with me, Matty.

You can say if you want it to stop - at any point -

and I'll stop. It's not a punishment, and it's not sex.

It's just spanking." Matt sat there, paralyzed. Rick

moved his hand and smoothed a stray wisp of hair

away from his eyes. "I know you're scared," he

said. "But it's me - how scary can it be?" He

grinned, and Matt found himself grinning back

weakly.

"Yes," he heard himself say, in a small,

pathetic voice, and it sounded like someone else

was talking from a long way away.

Rick smiled at him. "Okay then," he said,

getting up and holding out his hand.

Matt stared at it, panic-stricken. "What -

now?"

"Why not now? I know you, Matty - if you

have any time to think about this you'll drive

yourself nuts and end up counting every crack in

the sidewalk between here and your house. So yes,

we do it now, or we don't do it at all. Your call."

"Right. Now. Okay." Matt gave several

anxious nods and then finally reached out, took

Rick's hand, and hauled himself to his feet. "Um.

What shall I do? Where do you want me?" he said,

in a grimly determined tone. "Shall I lean over the

couch, or brace against the wall? Or I could…"

"I'll decide. I'm in charge now," Rick told him

firmly, and Matt was about to offer a retort when

he realized Rick's whole demeanor had changed.

He had transformed from the lovable idiot into

someone much more masterful.

"Right. Yes, Rick." Matt hopped from one

foot to the other nervously.

Rick sat down on the couch. "Come here." He

beckoned, and Matt shuffled slowly towards him.

Rick reached out and placed his hands on Matt's

belt buckle.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Matt squeaked.

"I'm undoing your pants, Matty. I don't spank

subs on anything but their bare asses. Otherwise

it's not the real deal. I need to be able to see what

I'm doing; to feel the skin warming up under my

hands; to touch, and look, and stroke. Otherwise I

won't do it properly, and if I don't do it properly

then it's not worth doing."

"You're going to spank me with your hand?

On my bare ass?" Matt wasn't sure why that

shocked him, but somehow he wasn't prepared for

the intimacy of it. When a dom had spanked him in

the past, they'd had him bend over or lie flat on the

bed, and they'd always used an implement. Mind

you, they hadn't been the kinds of doms who'd been

into spanking except as a means to enforce the

power dynamic between themselves and him. They

were the doms, and he was the sub, and none of

them had ever said anything about him enjoying it

before. It was simply an exercise in dominance,

and not one he'd ever really understood, or one that

had helped him get into the right mindset to enjoy

his own submission, either. Then again, he did

always pick really bad doms.

Rick's hands were steady on his belt buckle.

"Yes, Matt, I'm going to spank you on your bare

ass, and I bet it's very cute too." Rick grinned at

him. Matt stood there, uncertainly. "Do you trust

me, Matty?" Rick asked quietly.

"Yes - that's not the problem, Rick. The

problem is -"

"Ssh - I know the problem. I also know the

solution. Now trust me and go with it."

Matt nodded and allowed Rick to undo his

belt and then unbutton and unzip his fly. Rick

pulled his jeans down to his ankles, and then,

without warning, took hold of Matty's wrist, and,

with a practiced flick, pulled him down across his

knees.

Matt blinked. One minute he'd been standing

in front of Rick and now he was lying over his

knees, and Rick had done it so easily, without any

awkwardness about getting into position. He could

tell this was something Rick had done many times

before.

"Comfortable?" Rick asked.

Technically

speaking,

Matt

thought

it

shouldn't be comfortable at all, and yet it was.

Rick's thighs were broad and acted like a cushion

for his own slender frame. He was able to rest his

arms on the couch and place his head on them.

"Yes," he murmured.

"Good."

There was a sudden movement and then Matt

felt his boxer shorts being lowered and a cool rush

of air caressing his ass. He blushed and buried his

face in his hands.

"Hey… shush." A warm hand came to rest,

gently, on his newly exposed ass, and stroked it

calmingly. "You have a cute ass, Matty. Very

pretty."

Much as he liked the compliment, Matt felt

too embarrassed to reply. Up close, he could see

the threads making up the pattern on the couch, and

found himself counting the brown ones standing out