Page 64 of Collin: Episodes 4-6
“Nothing, sir, well…” Collin pulled up the memory. “Ash was there, sir. He just handed it to me.”
“And is Émeric not my hand to care for you?”
If he’s your hand, he should have supervised me, not handed me the blasted key! “Yes, sir.”
“So, you came home, cooked for everyone, fussed over Damian, and came in here to do what?”
“I was studying Chinese, sir. Watching videos.”
Mr. Reevesworth stroked Collin’s cheek gently with his thumb. “What am I going to do with you, Collin? You’ve been both very good and very bad. You’ve both taken care of my property and interests in several instances and abused it.”
“May I get the key, sir?”
“Yes.” Mr. Reevesworth let go of Collin’s jaw and stepped back. Collin tried to hurry down the hall, but his loins hurt. He clenched around the pain and hobbled to his coat. The key was right there in his pocket where he’d placed it. He returned. Mr. Reevesworth was still standing in the doorway of his bedroom. He took the key from Collin.
“Kneel.”
Collin dropped to his knees. For a long moment, nothing was said. Collin’s hands fidgeted against his thigh. Was he in real trouble? How bad was it going to be? At least Mr. Reevesworth’s voice hadn’t sounded angry. More…sad.
Collin’s heart fell in his chest. He’d caused grief. On a day that had already been difficult enough. A strong desire to just crawl under his bed and stop being a problem for anyone suffused his skin.
Mr. Reevesworth stroked the side of Collin’s head. “Can you wait five more minutes?”
I can do anything if it’s what you want. Not that he could say that out loud. “I was desperate. Now it’s just…dull, sir. Like I don’t even need to go.”
Mr. Reevesworth’s fingers ran down to Collin’s lips and touched them with the tips of his fingers. “You’re dehydrated.” He pulled Collin forward so that Collin’s head rested against his thigh. Collin breathed out a sigh. He leaned against his dom, closing his eyes. This, this felt good. Not that he deserved it, but being close… He suppressed a shudder. It felt so selfish, but this was what had been missing all day ever since Mr. Moreau handed him that key, as if it was just some random item, and left on the elevator. This being centered and seen and wanted. “I’m going to get you some water now, and then you’ll need to go in a few minutes.”
Mr. Reevesworth left Collin kneeling in the doorway for just a moment. He returned with a glass of room-temperature water and held it to Collin’s lips. “Drink.”
The liquid soaked into the inside of his lips first, moistening the inside of his mouth and pushing back the dry parchment sensation. Then it softened his tongue, crested into the top of his mouth, and hit his throat. He surged up on his knees and toes, reaching for more. How had he not known how thirsty he was? He needed that water. Needed it like breathing. Collin gulped at it despite himself. Water got on his chin.
Mr. Reevesworth brushed it away with his finger. “I do have to punish you, you know.” Mr. Reevesworth kept up with the gentle touches in Collin’s hair, down to his ear, and over the back of his neck.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why did you not go to Damian? Was he not here all day?”
“He was busy, sir. And stressed. I didn’t want to bother him.”
“Even though we expressly agreed that if you were having a problem with our dynamic that he was safe to go to?”
“I…” Collin’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t think of it as an us problem, sir. It was me. I was the one who just couldn’t use the key.”
“And you couldn’t text me?”
“You were handling an emergency, sir.”
“I was sitting in a waiting room for much of it. I could have answered a text.”
“Compared to a broken bone, sir…”
Mr. Reevesworth sighed. “I am at fault. I took your ability to ask for help in so many things as a sign you understood. But I think now you need to understand at a deeper level.”
“Sir?”
“You’ve only been accepting help when you think we can afford to give it, haven’t you? That’s not truly handing over power, Collin. That’s not truly trusting me to care for you.”
Collin’s chest tightened. His hand curled around the hem of Mr. Reevesworth’s pants. “But you were busy, sir. You sent me the key. That meant…”
