Page 13 of Collin, Episodes 4-6 (The Residency Boys #2)

“Yes, sir.” Collin nodded, sniffling.

Mr. Reevesworth drew Collin to his feet and guided him into the living room, his hand wrapped around Collin’s.

Collin let himself be led, keeping his eyes on the floor.

The last thing he wanted was to be dragged out in front of someone else to see, cheeks still wet with tears, but that was exactly what his dom was demanding.

Just inside the living room, Mr. Reevesworth paused. He gestured to the floor. “Down.”

Collin knelt where he stood, right beside Mr. Reevesworth. His skin was hot and cold, and he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He shoved them in between his thighs. It was probably outside of proper manners, but he hadn’t been taught yet.

“Damian,” Mr. Reevesworth said. “A word.”

Papers rustled and the sound of a phone being laid down echoed in the room. Footsteps approached from across the room. From where Collin was staring at the carpet, he saw the ends of Damian’s house shoes enter the edge of his vision.

“Sir?”

“You’ve had a difficult day with that client today, yes?”

“It’s been rough. But I think we figured it out.”

“How long have you been working?”

“Since six a.m., sir.”

“It’s now past three, nearly four.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s more than nine hours on a weekend.”

“Yes, sir.” Damian’s voice sounded heavy.

“I admire your drive, Damian. It’s commendable. And valuable. What else have you done today?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“Nothing? Did you order yourself food? Make coffee? Care for yourself?”

Damian was quiet and then replied softly, “Collin did that, sir.”

Collin drew his arms in toward his belly and huddled. If he tightened the muscles near his ears, he could make them fill with white static. If only it would be loud enough that he could float away on it and not have to be here.

But Mr. Reevesworth had more questions for Damian. “All your food and drink or just part?”

“All, sir.”

“Did you assign him the task of caring for your basic needs?”

“No, sir.”

“Why did he do so, then?”

“I think he noticed that I was stressed, sir, and realized that I had not done so.”

Please just let this be a bad dream.

“Indeed. I think it was obvious to all of us that you were stressed. Why did you not care for yourself? Did Collin offer to be responsible for you today previously?”

“No, sir. He just appeared and took care of things.”

“Why did you allow this situation with this client to become so all-encompassing, Damian? You know that you are more important than a deal.”

Damian made a sound of frustration and chagrin, something between an unhappy moan and a groan. “I let it get away from me, sir. They were stressed out, and I…I matched their energy, sir. I felt like I had to take it as importantly as they were.”

“You could have told them that you were not available. You could have taken down their concerns and told them you were working on the issue and given them a return date. You could have informed them that you would be assigning hours to their issues and would have a follow-up for them. You could have said any number of things that would have allowed them to feel catered to and valued and still held your boundaries.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re important to me, Damian. You should be important to yourself.”

“I am, sir.”

“But you allowed someone to simply use you today even though I know you had plans. You didn’t even look after your basic needs. You treated yourself worse than one of those draft horses on the lakefront carriage rides. Even they have mandatory breaks and water stops.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You did not earn the client’s respect today, Damian. You taught them that they could trample on your time lightly, at their emotional whim, as long as they can pay the bill.”

Damian heaved a miserable gust of air from his lungs. “I messed up, sir. I crossed my own boundaries and allowed others to do so.”

“You did. And because you allowed others to use and abuse you, because you were in a state of being abused and used, Collin also assessed the situation as serious enough to abuse himself.”

“Sir?” Horror colored Damian’s exclamation.

“Collin assessed each of us, myself, émeric, and you, as all having much more serious problems than the one he encountered today. You were not even getting water, let alone grabbing a snack from the kitchen. And therefore, he did not believe he could approach you.”

“He can always approach me!”

“Why should he believe he’s more important than you are, Damian? You were in a crisis so grave you were not even fetching yourself water. He’s the reason you’re not nursing a headache and low blood sugar.”

Damian’s knees trembled. “I was wrong, sir.”

“You were.”

“Will Collin be okay, sir?”

“He will be, soon. Collin’s cage has not been unlocked since early this morning.

Even though he was sent the key, he couldn’t bring himself to use it.

And he could not bring himself to reach out for help.

He’s both desperate to release his bladder but also dehydrated since he’s had nothing but morning coffee to drink all day.

I will be dealing with several of these issues, but you will be dealing with the fact that he didn’t believe he could ask you for support even though you were here. ”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your punishment for allowing your boundaries to be crossed and putting yourself at risk is to carry out Collin’s punishment for not speaking with you.”

Collin flinched.

Damian’s voice cracked with shock. “Sir!”

Mr. Reevesworth said nothing.

Damian made a strangled, unhappy sound. “Sir, I don’t deserve to get to punish Collin for something that I did.”

“You certainly deserve this, Damian. Nothing will drive the lesson home for you like seeing Collin suffer the consequences of your actions at your own hands. This is what I meant when I told you that your actions do not happen in a vacuum. How we treat ourselves also teaches others how to treat themselves. If you mean to be a leader, you must lead in all things. Do you want to lead other lawyers who have no boundaries with clients? Will that lead to an office that you are proud of? Do you want to be surrounded by workaholics who have no life and pant for every breath at the whim of a client? Do you?”

“No, sir!”

“Then do not be that lawyer! Those who follow you will resemble you!”

Damian’s knees hit the floor. “Yes, sir.”

Embarrassment for Damian suffused Collin’s body. He leaned forward, plastering his hands over his eyes and hiding his face between his knees.

“We will discuss this more at length later. I, myself, made mistakes with where Collin is with his training. He was not prepared to handle the emotional ramifications of being left alone with his cage and the key, nor did he correctly assess his own needs and value in the face of other factors. Tomorrow, when he is hydrated, he will face his normal punishment for not speaking up. Today, he will be punished for taking matters into his own hands and not seeking secondary help, such as you. I am going to unlock his cage, and you will take him into the bathroom. You will help him release himself in the manner you choose, and you will choose one additional punishment to be carried out at once. Bear in mind his physical state. I will be bringing something to the bathroom for him to start drinking.”

Damian had to clear his throat, just to manage to speak. “Do you want me to say the secondary punishment out loud or withhold the information from Collin, sir?”

“Take your time while you’re in the bathroom to think it over, then tell me out of his hearing. I’ll make the final judgment call.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Up, Collin.”

Collin shook his head. He couldn’t move. He was drowning. Everything was his fault. He’d put Damian in a bad position. He’d made Mr. Reevesworth regret his decisions, and now everyone was tired and focused on him. He was so fucking selfish.

A hand under his arm pulled him to his feet, but he was suddenly cramping.

The water he’d just had was working its way through him, waking up his body in ways he’d shut down for hours.

A strong, thick but shorter arm wrapped around his chest, holding him up.

Mr. Reevesworth’s hands were at Collin’s belt. Collin clutched at it.

“Move, Collin.”

He cried. Mortified, he covered his face with his hands while Damian held him up. His skin was cold. His bones were shivering if that was even possible. Or maybe he was just freezing from the inside out.

Mr. Reevesworth pulled down Collin’s underwear and grasped Collin’s cock inside the cage. Every jarring movement hurt. The key turned, the plug at the end was withdrawn, then the cage itself came off. The loss of its weight was keen. He tried to cover himself.

“Would you just take off his pants, sir?” Damian murmured.

Mr. Reevesworth stripped them away.

“Come, Collin. Let’s get into the hall bathroom.”

He mimed walking, more than actually moved under his own volition.

It felt like he would fall every other moment, but Damian was there, large and firm and warm in a way Collin was never going to be again.

The light turned on when they entered, triggered by motion.

Collin saw the toilet. He leaned toward it, but Damian dragged him past it and into the shower.

“Down.”

Collin half knelt, half fell, but Damian’s hands slowed his descent. He ended up on all fours in the shower.

“You’re cold, Collin. You can urinate in the shower as much as you can the toilet.”

“B-but, that’s…not right.”

“It’s sterile. I’ll clean up afterwards.”

“No.”

“Not your choice, Collin. It’s mine. We both fucked up. And neither of us is going to hide from that.” Soft canvas wrapped around Collin’s wrists.

“What are you doing?”

“Cuffing you. Are you safe wording?”

“No!”

“Then hold still.” Damian finished fixing the cuffs on Collin’s wrists. He pulled Collin’s shirt over his head.

“Cold.” The word was barely intelligible, coming from between Collin’s teeth as they rattled against each other.