Ricochet (55 page)

companion."

Matt glanced over at the opposite terrace,

where Camilla had placed gags in the mouths of

her kneeling subs. She took a little box out of her

purse and attached a set of nipple clamps to one of

the gags, and then she shortened the chain and

fastened the clamps around the girl's nipples. The

girl stiffened in pain, and Camilla gave a cruel

smile. She put her finger under the girl's chin and

slowly raised her head, so that the maximum

amount of tension was placed on the clamps.

"Dear Camilla." Rule glanced over at where

he was looking. "She does like to play with her

subs while she eats. Thankfully, she always gags

them first, so nobody's meal is disturbed."

Matt winced as Camilla took hold of her sub's

hair and slowly pulled her head back. The

pressure on the nipple clamps had to be

excruciating; maybe the sub got off on that, but

there was something so cruel about Camilla's

demeanor that Matt found it unsettling. Matt

glanced at Rule to find him staring at the tableau

too. His tongue darted out and wet his lips slightly,

and then he turned back to Matt.

"So - you mentioned your co-stars, Karl and

Rick? Why don't you tell me a little about them?"

He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers

together.

"Well, Karl's new to the cast, so I don't know

him that well yet, but he's a nice guy. He plays a

bad guy on the show, but he's one of the good guys

in real life."

"And Rick? There have been some rather

salacious stories in the news about him recently,"

Rule said, his gaze never leaving Matt's face.

"Oh, they make a lot of stuff up! Rick's led a

colorful life, but he's a big softie at heart.

Everyone loves him. He may put on an act, playing

the idiot, but he's not like that really. You have to

get to know him."

"And did you? Get to know him?" Rule asked

sharply.

Matt shrugged. "A little." He took another sip

of his drink and then put the glass down on the

table and glanced across to where Camilla was

busy pouring hot candle wax over another of her

gagged subs. "I'm not sure anyone gets to know the

real Rick though; maybe not even Rick."

"I see." Rule gazed at him thoughtfully over

the rim of his glass.

Matt thought he might be tipsy because he

wasn't sure what exactly Rule saw. He reached out

to pick up his glass again, one eye still on Camilla,

and misjudged the distance and knocked it over.

There was only a small amount of wine left in it,

but it splashed onto the sleeve of Rule's expensive

shirt, staining it bright red.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" Matt got up, anxiously

dabbing at the stain with his napkin.

Rule shooed him away with a tight smile. "It's

fine. It was a mistake."

"I know, but I'm sorry." There was something

about Rule's expression that made Matt feel he'd

screwed up, and he was anxious to regain this

important man's good opinion of him. "I can be

such a klutz when I've had some wine. I'm not very

good at holding my liquor. I should know better by

now."

"If that's the case, then you should. You must

learn to be more careful or to drink more

conservatively."

"I know. Someone should spank some sense

into me." Oh shit! Had he just said that? Matt

glanced up at Rule through his eyelashes.

"If that was intended to be some little piece of

flirtatious subterfuge, then I should advise you,

Matt, that I don't believe in spanking except for

discipline," Rule told him.

"What?" Matt jerked his head up in surprise.

"I don't do play spankings," Rule said firmly.

"I think it sends out mixed messages. I use

discipline on my subs if they deserve it, but I never

spank for fun. I don't believe my spankings are fun

at all." He gave a grim little laugh.

Matt's belly did a flip. "Never?"

"Never," Rule said firmly. Then his

expression softened. "There now, have I scared

you away, my sweet boy?"

"No, I'm just surprised. I mean, most doms

like to hand out erotic spankings as well as

disciplinary ones. The last dom I was with only

gave out erotic ones - he didn't like to discipline a

sub for real." Matt thought of Rick's aversion to

using discipline on a sub, which was as surprising,

in its own way, as Rule's aversion to handing out

play spankings.

"Well then, he doesn't sound like a very good

dom. A dom has a duty to punish a sub, to guide

and instruct, to show them the error of their ways

and establish their own dominance by use of

punishment. I'm very fair, but I am firm." Rule put

his hand around Matt's wrist again. "I think subs

prefer that. No confusion, no deceit, no games. I'm

direct and honest, and that way everyone knows

where they stand. Don't you think that's better?"

It did have an order and clarity to it that

appealed to Matt's sense of tidiness. "Yes," he

murmured.

Rule's hand tightened around Matt's wrist,

clamping down hard, and Matt got a whiff of his

strong cologne. "I knew you and I would get along

well together. I could feel it the minute we met,"

Rule said softly.

His hand was firm and confident, and his

grasp on Matt's wrist was a little too tight. He

squeezed even harder, and Matt winced and pulled

his arm away.

Rule gazed at him steadily and then nodded

and glanced at his watch. "I must get you home;

you have an early call tomorrow."

"How did you know that?"

"I saw it on the call sheets when I was

visiting the set earlier. Little details are important

to me, Matt."

They left the restaurant and got into Rule's

waiting limo, and Rule placed his hand on Matt's

thigh as they drove to Matt's house. Matt leaned

against him, feeling sleepy and a little drunk. They

pulled up outside his house, and Matt turned to

Rule.

"Thank you for a lovely evening."

"No - thank you. Here… I have one more

present for you." Rule pulled another of those

exquisitely wrapped packages from his pocket, and

Matt opened it to find a gold bracelet inside,

fashioned like a cuff. It was studded with

diamonds and clearly very expensive.

"I want you to think of me when you're

wearing it," Rule said, taking it out of Matt's hand

and snapping it around his wrist. It felt heavy and

tight, just like Rule's hand had felt earlier.

"Thank you," Matt said, gazing down at it on

his wrist; it was a beautiful piece of jewelry.

Rule suddenly took hold of Matt's face, tilted

it towards him, and pressed his mouth firmly on

Matt's lips. Matt opened them in surprise at the

speed of the kiss, and Rule took advantage of that

to force his tongue inside. He wrapped his hand in

Matt's hair, keeping him in place while he

plundered his mouth, and then, just as suddenly, he

drew back.

"I think you and are I going to get along very

well, Matt," Rule told him, smoothing down Matt's

hair with his fingers. "I can tell when I've met a

sub whose dynamic fits my own, and you, my dear,

sweet boy, are perfect."

"Uh… I don't want you to think…" Matt

waved at his house. "I mean, thank you for all the

gifts and for dinner, but I don't…"

"Of course you don't sleep with a dom on a

first date!" Rule smiled at him benignly. "And I

would hate it if you were the kind of sub who did.

I am not the kind of dom who treats a sub that way

in any case. No, Matt - you're not ready yet, and I

don't sleep with a sub unless I've collared them. I

expect a certain kind of commitment from them,

you see."

"Collared them?" Matt repeated blankly.

"You mean - a proper collar? Not a play collar?"

"Absolutely. When you're ready, I'll collar

you and then I'll claim your body for my own. Until

then, I expect you to keep yourself pure for me. No

touching… and no letting anyone else touch." Rule

cast a sweeping glance over Matt's body as if he

already owned it, and Matt shivered in response,

feeling turned on and unsettled at the same time.

"No… okay." Matt frowned. "Does this… I

mean, are we…?"

"In a relationship? Yes, of course. You're

now officially my submissive." Rule touched the

gold cuff around his wrist. "Unless you have any

objections?"

Matt was too tired and tipsy to think about it.

Rule was sexy as hell, and one of the wealthiest

men on the planet. He did seem to be moving pretty

fast, but like he said, he was a busy man, and what

was the point in waiting around? At least this

would show Rick that someone found him

attractive enough to want to be his dom for real

and not just playact the role.

Matt pulled Rule back by the lapels and

kissed him again by way of an answer, pressing up

against him - but Rule pushed him away and

placed a finger over his lips.

"I like my subs demure. I'll initiate - you will

respond. Am I clear?" Rule told him firmly.

Matt was taken aback, but the sub in him

responded to the authority in his dom's voice.

"Yes… sir," he said, lowering his gaze

submissively and glancing up at Rule from under

his eyelashes.

"Oh, you and I are going to be perfect for

each other!" Rule exclaimed, and Matt laughed.

"What's so funny?" Rule asked sharply.

"Just thinking - finally I have a dom my mom

would approve of!"

"Ah. Yes. Your mom is very important to

you?"

"Yeah."

"Then she is very important to me," Rule said

caressing the side of his face tenderly. "Good

night, Matt. Sleep well, my darling sub."

"'Night sir." Matt stumbled out of the car and

into his house, still reeling from the unexpected

turn of events. His wrist hurt, and he scratched it

absently. The gold cuff was too tight, and it chafed,

but when he examined it closely he couldn't see a

way to get it off. There was no lock - it seemed

that once it was on, it was there to stay.

When Rick loped into the make-up trailer the

next day, he saw a little cluster of people gathered

around Matt's chair.

"Wow!" the twins exclaimed, grabbing hold

of his wrist. "That's so beautiful."

"It's a pretty piece of shit, for sure," Estelle

said, blowing out a mouthful of cigar smoke. "The

guy's either loaded or head over heels in love with

ya, sweetie. Or maybe he just wants to fuck your

cute ass!"

"He gave you that on your very first date?"

Daniel was perched to one side, looking puzzled.

"Not only that - he gave me a smart phone and

a camera too," Matt said proudly.

"Quite the fast mover, isn't he?" Karl said.

"Or maybe he's just crazy in love with Matt

and who can blame him because Matt is the

sweetest sub in the world," Casey said.

"Matt - tell us everything that happened!"

Cara demanded.

"Everything that happened where?" Rick

asked.

Everyone turned to look at him, and there was

an awkward silence.

Rick rolled his eyes. "C'mon, guys - it's me,

and you know how much I love gossip!"

"I went on a date," Matt told him quietly.

"With Sebastian Rule."

"Really? Cool. He's a great guy," Rick said,

sitting down in a make-up chair and swinging his

legs up onto the nearest surface with an air of

studied nonchalance.

The entire cast stared at him, but there was no

way he was going to let them see how he really

felt. He could play the role of couldn't-care-less

Rick in his sleep.

"And he gave me this bracelet." Matt held up

his arm and showed him a thick, gold cuff, studded

with diamonds. Rick felt a stab of jealousy so

fierce that he had to sit forward until it eased. He

hid it by feigning an interest in the bracelet, leaning

over and admiring it like everyone else.

"It's real gold," Cara told him. "And real

diamonds."

"Well, he's a billionaire, so I guess that's