Page 15 of Collin: Episodes 1-3
Collin obeyed slowly. His hand compulsively spasmed against the comforter.
Damian met his gaze. “Thirdly, you will ask for help when you start to worry. If you do not and you stress yourself, there will be discipline.”
Collin’s eyelids flared. “You’re saying I’m not allowed to worry?”
“The comment about leashes and handcuffs was the one you were supposed to have an issue with.”
Collin’s emotions jumbled through him like beams of light twisted in wet glass. Bright but blurred. “Getting kidnapped is practically a society-wide fantasy, so yeah, no, that’s practically an enforced vacation guilt-free. But you can’t tell me not to worry!”
“Hmm, but I can. Besides, this order comes from Mr. Reevesworth himself. And since you can’t watch or use a screen or do anything mentally stressful, I expect you will need some amount of assistance to not lay there and put yourself in a bother.”
“Damian, please.” Collin started to sit up. “I’ll stay in bed. I don’t know what will happen to my job or my grades, but I’ll do it. I swear. I was in the wrong, and I made a problem for everyone, and I’ll do everything I can to stop it and make it up. I swear it. But you can’t, you literally can’t, ask me to stop worrying. Every thought in my head is a worry. I don’t think I know how not to worry.”
Mr. Reevesworth stepped into the room. “I know how to help you stop worrying.”
“You do?” The words flew out of Collin’s mouth unbidden. He gasped, mortified.
Damian sighed. “Sir. You forgot the ‘sir’, Collin.”
“Sir.”
Mr. Reevesworth nodded. “Would you like me to help you stop worrying?”
“If it’s going to be a requirement, then yes. That is not something I can do for myself.”
Damian shook his head. “You forgot the ‘sir’.”
Collin rolled his eyes. “Sir.”
Mr. Reevesworth raised an eyebrow. “Very well. You’re consenting then, to me showing you. I will have to touch you.”
Collin gulped. Was the man going to do some sort of pressure point acupuncture technique?
“I consent. Sir.”
“Well then.”
Mr. Reevesworth nodded at Damian. Damian pulled back the covers, and Mr. Reevesworth leaned down, rolling Collin smoothly onto his stomach.
He ran his bare hand down Collin’s spine. “What do you know about the spine and the human nervous system, Collin?”
“Only what I had to learn to pass high school science class.”
“Hmm. Well, this I did not learn from a science class. This I learned in massage school. It should help the nerves release and let you relax.” He ran his hands down Collin’s back again, applying more pressure.
Collin’s mouth opened. No sound came out. He didn’t even breathe. He couldn’t move. The weight of Mr. Reevesworth’s body was omnipresent, sinking him into the mattress.
“Are you worrying now, Collin?”
Collin dragged in air. “Sir?”
“I asked you if you were worrying, Collin.”
“Yes? No? I don’t know, sir.”
A second hand settled on his back. Powerful fingers pressed into muscles at the base of his neck and worked their way down to his hips. Collin’s muscles tightened against the touch. How long had it been since anyone had touched him? But the weight, the pressure. The warmth.
Something loosened inside Collin’s belly, and he melted. Mr. Reevesworth’s hand came up to his neck and soothed over his shoulders.
