Ricochet (52 page)

believe, but you don't fool me anymore, Rick."

"I'm not sure I ever did." Rick grabbed the

back of the couch and hauled himself to his feet.

"Rick…" Matt looked up at him. "The spank

buddy thing - that's not going to happen again. Not

now. I mean, I just can't."

"No. I didn't think you would. That's fine,

Matty."

Rick leaned down, lifted Matt's chin, and

kissed him gently on the lips. Then he drew back

and straightened up. "Go and find a good dom,

Matt. One who'll love you the way you deserve to

be loved."

And then he left.

Rick missed finding Matt sitting on his trailer

steps in the morning, eagerly awaiting a spanking,

but more than that he missed spending time with

his friend. He could tell Matt was angry with him -

hell, he was angry with himself - but he knew he'd

made the right decision. He couldn't give Matt

what he wanted, so it was better to stay away from

him altogether.

Matt clearly sensed that he was keeping his

distance and responded in kind, with the result that

they didn't play fight or bicker anymore. Their

relationship became strained, lacking its old lively

intimacy, and if they happened to touch by accident

Matt always jumped and moved away quickly. It

made Rick sad, but it was better this way.

A week after their conversation, Rick arrived

on set to find the twins leaning over a laptop

furtively.

"Hey - what's going on?" Rick poked his head

over their shoulders.

"No! Don't show him!" One of the twins

slammed the laptop shut, while the other put her

hands on his chest and pushed him away.

"Aw - c'mon! Is it porn?" Rick grinned at

them. "Hey, does Petra know you're looking at

porn during work time?"

"No, and you mustn't tell her!"

"So it's true then…"

"That we're looking at porn?"

"That you're dating Petra." The twins nodded

shyly, their cheeks flushing prettily. "Both of you?"

Rick asked, intrigued.

"Of course! We always wanted to find twin

doms, so they'd understand us, but we never did,

and Petra is great all by herself."

"She's so great!"

"And strict."

"But great."

They both sighed at the same time.

"Well, I'm very happy for you. Although, how

come I'm the last to know?" He pouted. "I asked

around, and everyone seems to know except me!"

"Petra told us not to broadcast it," Cara said.

"And she's right," Casey added.

"We told Matt and Daniel and Karl before we

went on our first date, and Estelle wheedled it out

of us." Cara put her hand over her mouth, and Rick

was fairly sure she'd been the one to spill the

beans to Estelle.

"Hmm, okay, I forgive you then! I'm glad it's

working out for you; you deserve it." Rick engulfed

them in a big hug. "It's just a shame she's gonna be

spanking your cute little asses so hard later," he

added in a theatrically mournful tone.

"What?" The twins pushed him away. "Why?"

"Because I'll have to tell her you were

looking at porn during work time, unless…" Rick

grinned. "You show me what you were just looking

at!"

"Rick!" They thumped his shoulders, rolling

their eyes at his teasing. Then they looked at each

other with scared expressions. "We're not sure we

should though," Casey said.

"Why - is it that kinky?" Rick was even more

intrigued now.

"Yes! Kind of! See…" They looked at each

other again and then turned back to him. "We found

some
Collar Crime
fanfiction."

"So?"

"About you."

"There's tons of fanfiction about me." Rick

rocked back on his heels nonchalantly. "There's a

heap of Tanner/Chief Christie stories out there.

They have a smushed up name for it - 'Chieftan'.

It's supposed to be a kind of play on words. I

think." He frowned.

"Yes, we know all about that! We get paired

with him too - it's called 'Twinchrist'."

"So what's the big deal? I read some of that

stuff when they first started posting it, and I thought

it was kinda hot. Well, some of it. Some of it was

just weird." He grimaced.

"Well, you don't want to see this stuff," Cara

told him.

"Why not?"

"Just because! That's all."

"Oh c'mon - it can't be that bad. Who did they

pair me with this time? Estelle?" Rick stretched a

long arm over their shoulders and grabbed the

laptop before they could stop him.

"No… it's not you and Estelle." The twins

tried to grab the laptop back, but he effortlessly

held them at bay. Rick glanced at the computer and

saw a screen cap from an episode they'd filmed a

few weeks previously. "It's you and Matt," the

twins said, their eyes flashing anxiously. "Well,

it's actually fanfic about Alex and Ben, obviously."

Rick frowned. "These fans do know we're

both subs on the show, don't they?"

"Yes - that's part of the fun - putting two

people with the same dynamic together. It's called

slash fic." The twins flushed.

"
Subterfuge
." Rick read the title of a story out

loud. "
Ben and Alex go undercover in a Topsy-

Turvy bar - and discover their true feelings for

each other in the process.
" A Topsy-Turvy bar?

Really?" He rolled his eyes.

"I know!" The twins clasped each other's

hands excitedly. "It's kinky, isn't it? Have you ever

been to a Topsy-Turvy bar, Rick?"

"No. I play a sub every day at work - why

would I need to go to a TT bar to play at being

one?"

"You've never felt like being a sub for a night

and letting a sub top you? Or another dom?"

"No. Why - have you ever topped a dom?"

Rick winked at them.

"No!" the twins squealed. "Rick!" They

punched him on the arm again, and he laughed.

The screen cap the author had chosen to

illustrate their story seemed to show Alex taking a

keen interest in Ben's ass.

"Is that photoshopped?" Rick put his head on

one side and gazed at the photo.

"No - that moment really was in the episode."

"Which episode was that?"

"The one that aired last Tuesday. It was

amazing, Rick - the minute that episode aired,

people started writing Ben/Alex slash." The twins

looked at each other and beamed. "Balex!"

"What?"

"That's the smushed up name for Ben and

Alex as a couple."

"Sounds like a disease." Rick grimaced.

"Why that episode?" he asked, bemused.

"Uh… well… have you seen it?" The twins

made scared faces at each other.

"It's on my DVR - I haven't got around to

watching it yet."

"Well, if you had, maybe you wouldn't be

asking." They giggled nervously. "There's this

scene where Ben and Alex are discussing how the

chief has never spanked Ben, and you and Matt

keep looking at each other like you want to jump

each other's bones."

"Oh. That scene." That was the scene they'd

shot right after the first spanking he'd given Matt.

They'd both been on a post-spanking high, and the

director had repeatedly told them to tone it down;

it seemed like they hadn't managed it.

"There have been forty-two Balex stories

posted since last Tuesday. It's the new big pairing

in the
Collar Crime
fandom," the twins told him

helpfully. "Tumblr is full of Balex gifs, a new

Balex community has opened on Livejournal, and

the Balex hashtag on Twitter was trending after the

last episode aired. People have gone nuts for it."

Rick scanned down the story. "As a matter of

interest - who tops who?" he asked.

The twins winced in unison. "Well, to be

honest… usually Ben tops Alex. Maybe because

Alex is such a bad boy on the show, and Ben is

kind of serious and sensible, and…"

"I guess the fans can't imagine any universe

where Alex isn't getting his ass tanned by someone,

huh?" Rick gazed at the screen, shaking his head

ruefully.

"Well, you are quite naughty in real life too,

Rick. Everyone knows that. You don't really

behave like a dom," Cara said, clearly trying to

ease his domly pride, and failing, miserably. "And

there was that footage of you down the Justice Hall

a few weeks ago…"

"And there's a new story about you doing

crazy stuff in the
National Investigator
every

week."

"A lot of people think you are Alex Tanner.

They don't know you, Rick, that's all!" The twins

unwrapped themselves from each other and

wrapped their arms around him instead. "We know

you. We know you're a dom!" They kissed his

cheeks affectionately. "A big, goofy, squishy, laid-

back kinda dom!"

Rick disengaged himself and scrolled down

the screen to see some clearly photoshopped

pictures of him and Matt kissing at the end of the

story. There was so much passion in the kisses that

it made his belly stir hungrily as he remembered

how it had felt to kiss Matt for real.

"You're not upset, are you?" Casey asked

anxiously.

"Nah. It's fine. I love the fans, and I love that

they do insane stuff like this." Rick waved his hand

at the screen. "It shows how much they love the

show and how much my portrayal of Alex inspires

them. It's cool."

"Oh good!" The twins gave matching happy

smiles.

At that moment, Matt walked onto the set with

Daniel, and Rick slammed the laptop shut quickly.

"Matt mustn't see this," he hissed at the twins.

Things were bad enough between them already; he

didn't want to make it any worse for Matt than it

already was.

"Hey." Matt smiled at the twins and gave

Rick a polite nod.

"Hey, Matty."

"Was that the Balex website?" Matt glanced

at the laptop.

Rick winced. "You know about that?"

"I heard about it."

"Weird huh?" Rick scuffed his foot on the

ground.

"Not really. The fans know what they see.

They aren't stupid - unlike some of the actors,"

Matt said darkly.

Before Rick had a chance to reply, Petra

walked onto the set, accompanied by a tall,

handsome man, with a chiseled chin and dark grey

hair with flashes of silver at the temples. He was

wearing an exquisitely tailored suit and exuded an

air of supreme confidence. The scent of his

cologne was almost overbearingly powerful,

dominating the room as arrogantly as the man

himself. Rick thought he vaguely recognized him.

"Morning people! I'd like you to meet

Sebastian Rule, head of Rule-Tech," Petra

announced. As you know, Rule-Tech has a major

product-placement contract with us. Mr. Rule was

here on business today, and he asked if he could

meet you."

That accounted for Rick's vague sense of

recognition; Rule-Tech dominated the world of

electronics, and Sebastian Rule had graced the

cover of
Zeitgeist
magazine more than once. He

was a steely-eyed businessman who had steered

his company ruthlessly to the top.

"This is such an honor for me," Rule said,

smiling genially at the cast. "I love this show, and I

love our association with this show. We've seen a

17% increase in the sales of our new miniature

camera since Agent Harris used it during an

undercover mission earlier this season." He

glanced around the room. "Is he here?"

Matt edged out from behind Daniel, his arm

half raised. "Um. Yes. Well, I mean, I am. I'm

Matthew Lake; I play Ben."

"Oh, I know you do." Sebastian stepped

forward and shook Matt's hand vigorously. "It's a

pleasure to meet you, Matthew; I'm a huge fan of

your work."

"Talking of work - we have a scene to film,"

Petra said. "Perhaps when we're done, you could

take Mr. Rule on a tour of the set, Daniel?"

Petra always chose either Daniel or Rick to

do set tours for important visitors, as they were the

main stars of the show. Rick had noticed that if

their important visitors were doms she chose

Daniel, and if they were subs she chose Rick. Not