Ricochet (34 page)

arrive half an hour before your session's start

time. Further instructions will be waiting for you

in your exclusive luxury suite upon arrival.

"Matt…" Someone put a hand on his

shoulder, and Matt jumped and quickly hid his cell

phone in the palm of his hand. "Hey, it's just me,

sweetheart!" Estelle said. "My, you're jumpy

today! I wondered if you wanted to come out for a

drink with me and the twins tonight?"

"Uh… not this evening. It's been a long week

- I'm kind of tired," Matt told her. He saw that Rick

was still watching him, and he winced; that had

been such an obvious lie.

"Okay, but if I hear you've secretly been

seeing some hot dom behind my back then you'll be

in big trouble, Mister!" Estelle winked at him. "I

gave the twins hell for days when I found out about

their big dating secret." She gave him a meaningful

look and mouthed 'Petra' at him, and Matt managed

a weak grin in return.

The twins were being surprisingly quiet about

their fledgling relationship with Petra, which Matt

was sure was down to Petra threatening them both

with a sound spanking if they were indiscreet at

work. TV sets were such hotbeds of rampant

gossip that Matt didn't blame her for that - she was

the showrunner, after all, and had some dignity to

maintain. However, he had been able to glean from

the twins that the relationship was blossoming, and

he was pleased for them.

"If I start dating a hot dom then you'll be the

first to know, Estelle, I promise," Matt said, and

she seemed happy with that and left.

Matt glanced at the text message again,

feeling guilty because his obsessive checking of

his cell phone was interfering with his

concentration during filming. He gritted his teeth

and threw his cell phone into Ben's desk drawer,

where he kept a few of his own personal items,

and locked the drawer firmly. Then he went over

to the tech room set, where the twins were running

through some dialogue with Daniel before they

shot the next scene.

It was Rick's last scene of the day, and Matt

heaved a sigh of relief when it was over, glad that

he wouldn't have to endure the heavy weight of

Rick's watchful gaze anymore.

Matt finished work an hour or so later,

retrieved his cell phone, and made a run for his

trailer. He got changed with a growing sense of

anticipation, wondering what the evening would

bring.

He left his trailer and began walking to his

car, but an overwhelming sense of anxiety made

him turn back. He returned to his trailer, adjusted

the pile of scripts on his coffee table so they were

exactly level, and then left again. He was almost at

his car when the impulse to return to his trailer

overwhelmed him, so he went back to count how

many scripts were on the table. He counted them

several times, just to be sure, and then divided

them into neat piles.

He tore himself away and actually reached

his car this time before the urge to go back and

adjust the piles of scripts became almost

unbearable. He forced himself to crush it down,

and got into his car and drove out of the parking lot

as fast as he could.

His stomach was a crawling mess of nerves

as he made his way to Fantasia. He wanted to turn

back, to return to the safety of his trailer with its

calming neatness, and stay there. Instead, he was

driving headfirst into chaos, and he was terrified.

He glanced at his cell phone to check the

message from Fantasia again, even though he was

word perfect on it now. When he looked up, he

saw a familiar figure behind him in the car mirror.

He looked away and then looked back again

quickly as it registered. Was that Rick he'd seen?

Or just someone who looked like him? Hadn't Rick

said his father looked exactly like him?

Matt pulled over and looked behind him

again, his heart thumping, but he couldn't see

anyone. Would Rick's father be instantly

recognizable, the way Rick seemed to think? Rick

had said that his father researched people before

making a move on them - was he following Matt

around in order to do that? Matt really didn't want

anyone following him to Fantasia. It was bad

enough that he had this guilty secret, without some

conman finding out about it and using it against

him.

Matt waited five minutes, looking anxiously

in the mirror and counting to five hundred and back

down again, before deciding he'd been mistaken.

"Idiot," he told himself as he pulled out onto

the road again. "Stupid, jumpy, paranoid idiot."

His hands were trembling, and he had to grip

the steering wheel tightly. He'd never done

anything this risky before, and he was completely

freaked out; no wonder he was seeing things.

He reached Fantasia and sat in the parking lot

for a few minutes, counting manically to calm

himself down. Then he forced himself to get out of

the car. This was it. He was really going to do this.

He walked slowly towards the salon door,

wondering who his dom for the evening would be.

He hoped Grable was right, and they really had

been able to match him precisely to someone who

could fulfill his fantasies for him. He hoped he

wouldn't disappoint them in return. He didn't want

it to be an ordeal, and he could imagine himself

curling up into a ball and enduring the whole

experience rather than enjoying it. He wanted to

feel it, the way Ben had felt it in the script:

captured, overwhelmed, and forced to submit to a

powerful dom…

Matt felt a rising sense of excitement; this

was definitely what he wanted. He tugged his

baseball bat down over his eyes, turned up his

jacket collar, and walked furtively into the salon.

He was met by Marilyn, who showed him to

his suite.

"This is yours for the evening," she told him,

handing him a key. "Your play session dom has left

us instructions which you can find inside. He'll get

changed in this ante-room here." She gestured to a

small room off to one side, "And then join you

when he's ready. Your credit card has been

debited, so everything is paid for. Enjoy!" She

gave him a perky little smile and left.

Matt opened the door and stepped into a room

decorated in plush red and purple hues. There was

a huge bed over to one side, a St Andrews Cross

in the center, and a flogging post in the corner with

a rack of implements beside it.

There was also a closet full of role-playing

clothes. Matt opened it and saw that the ones for

the submissive were in his size. The dom's clothes

were much bigger - so he was clearly taller and

broader.

Matt poked his head around the door to the en

suite bathroom to find it was spotless. Everything

here was clean and tidy which at least boded well.

He returned to the bedroom and saw the

envelope lying on the bed, with
Submissive's

Instructions
written on it. He sat down on the bed,

slid his finger under the envelope, and drew out

the card inside.

Dear submissive, your dominant for this play

session has requested that you start the session

naked. You are to undress, put your clothes in the

closet, and then kneel in the center of the room,

facing away from the door, with your head down.

You will hear a bell five minutes before your dom

enters the room, to give you time to get into

position. You are to remain in that position until

your dom gives you further instructions in

person.

Matt shivered. That sounded incredibly erotic

but also designed to put him off balance. It meant

his dom for the evening would get a good look at

him first, but he wouldn't get to see his dom until

he was given permission to look up. He read on:

It goes without saying that you should be clean

and prepared for your dom. As you have chosen

not to have a safeword, your play session will

end when your play partner finishes with you, or

at midnight, which is the latest you may stay in

this room. Your play session is being recorded

and monitored -
Matt looked up and saw two

cameras in opposite corners of the room, their red

lights winking -
and we will intervene only if

either you or your play partner breaches our

terms and conditions. Enjoy your play session!

Fantasia.

Matt got up and began undressing, trying not

to notice how sweaty the palms of his hands were

or how much he was trembling. He was counting

like crazy in his head, but he could barely

remember where he'd got up to and had to keep

starting all over again, the way he always did

when he messed up.

He put his clothes away neatly in the closet,

then took a shower, being sure to use the nozzles

provided to make sure he was clean, inside and

out. He got out of the shower, dried himself, and

shaved, before finally examining himself critically

in the mirror to make sure he looked his best.

His hair was silky, shining a pale gold color

in the artificial light. He hadn't managed to tame it

completely, but he'd put some product in it which

would hopefully stop it from becoming an unruly

mess during the course of the evening. His body

was slender but toned - he was strict about doing

his daily yoga practice, which kept body supple

and strong. He had a flat stomach, lean legs and

hard abs. His cock was a decent size, smooth and

cut, and his balls hung round and ripe behind it.

He'd shaved himself thoroughly the previous

evening, so everything was smooth down there.

He'd never worried too much about his

appearance before, but now he was suddenly

aware that his feet were too big, his cock curved to

the left, and his butt was much plumper than he'd

ever realized.

A bell rang, and he looked up, startled, before

realizing that it was the five minute warning. That

meant his dom had arrived, and it was time for

Matt to get into position.

He was still trembling but his cock was half

hard as he ran into the center of the room and knelt

down. He bowed his head, closed his eyes and

tried to access his sub-space. The problem was

that he'd only ever managed to find his sub-space

when Rick was spanking him, and he didn't know

how get into the right frame of mind.

Maybe his dom for the evening would know

how to get him there - or maybe he wouldn't care.

Maybe all he'd care about was getting himself off.

Maybe he wouldn't give a damn whether Matt had

a good time or not. Maybe this whole thing was a

giant mistake - a stupid, giant screw-up of epic

proportions.

"If your mom knew you were doing something

so stupid," he berated himself. "Or Rick. Or

Daniel, Karl or Petra. Or Estelle, or the twins, or

anyone - they'd all say this was insane. That's why

you didn't tell them. Oh shit. This is a such a

fucking great mistake!"

Matt started to get up, wanting to flee, but at

that moment he heard the door opening, and he

pressed his face back down on the carpet again.

It was too late. He had no safeword. He could

try and talk his way out of this but his dom for the

evening might assume he was playing a scene and

refuse to believe him. He hadn't ticked the 'no' box

to 'non-consensual role-play' on the form Fantasia

had sent him; he'd actually put that on the list of

kinks he'd enjoy.

Non-consensual role-play.

No safeword.

What the hell had possessed him not to have a

safeword? If he was going to do something this

insane, the least he could have done was protect

himself.

He began to shake violently as he heard

footsteps behind him. It was too late now. There