Equation for Love (2 page)

Liam chuckled, drawing Skye closer again. "No? Did you assume that pleasure was something you could measure and control, professor? Like one of your equations?"

He reminded Liam of some of the other guys with the agency, the ones who were working to put themselves through college. He liked to sit with them sometimes and listen in on their brainiac conversations. He didn't consider himself stupid, not even close, but everybody always had something to learn, in his opinion, so whynot payattention?

Skye peered at himfrombehind his glasses. Aman who wore Buddy Holly glasses perched on his rather large nose shouldn't be as attractive as Skye was. But damned if he didn't make Liam's cock sit up and take notice.

"Maybe. I didn't think it'd get out of hand so quickly."
Liam grinned. "Out of hand? You haven't seen anything yet."With that, he bent and took Skye's mouth again. Ridiculously pink lips were now flushed almost red fromthe kisses and parted easily this time, as Liam kissed him.
He didn't want to freak the guy out, but who thought they could control kisses and pleasure? Someone who'd never felt any, that's who, and it made Liam feel sort of bad for him, while at the same time it turned him on. He'd never been anyone's first, though he'd heard stories of clients who used the service for just that purpose. Like losing it to a pro was a rite of passage or something. Liam didn't quite get that, but who was he to judge?
But this call was different. In the past year and a half with the agency and allthe tales that got told after a long night when a group of the guys would go out for breakfast at the GoldenNugget, nobodyhad mentioned the possibility of an adorable, socially stunted scientist wantingLiamto teachhimhow to be a gayman.
Whenthe kiss broke, Skye's eyes were wide, spiky lashes giving the momentary impression of eyeliner. Heavy brows furrowed and he was breathing a little hard. Liamtook that as a signofa job welldone.
"You're verygood at that?"
Liam laughed. "You tell me." He knew damn well he was.
"Well, I haven't got anything to compare it to, but if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say yes. You're very good at that." Skye rubbed one slimfinger against his lips, then nodded. "Good. My friends tellme a good kisser means a man's good...elsewhere."
Liam half-smiled. For someone who'd just hired a whore to devirginize and school himin God knew what kinds of lessons, it was amusing that Skye couldn't seem to say the words. "In bed. At fucking. Say it, Skye. You want me to do it; I want to know you know what you're askingfor. You're askingme to fuck you."
Skye stiffened, thenlifted his china bit. There was a definite stubborn, almost imperious tilt to it. "No, I'm not asking you to. I believe I hired you to. Let's keep things honest here. No sugarcoatingor tiptoeing."
Liamshrugged one shoulder. "We have a lot oftime left tonight, professor. How about we get started?" For the first time in a good while, a customer truly intrigued Liam. And whenhe was intrigued, he could be everybit as methodical about learning everything there was to know about the source of that intrigue. In this case-

expression. "Oh. Well, yes. Right." He glanced at the clock on the wall, then back at Liam. "There are two hours and five minutes left in our session. Is that enough?"

Liam grinned. "You really are innocent. Yeah, Skye, two hours is enough." He pushed to his feet and held out his hand. "Come on. I won't bite, I promise."

Skye swallowed, gaze flicking between Liam's hand and his face, then he took a deep breath and stood, taking Liam's hand. "I suppose the proper response is 'unless I ask you to,'" he said, dark eyes sparkling a little.

Liamslid his armaround Skye's waist, then bent to nuzzle his mouth. "Maybe I won't make you ask," he said in a low, husky tone. As expected, that earned him a deep shudder from Skye and Liam grinned. He was goingto
love
this job. No questionabout it.

Skye had already been in the bedroom, but stepping in there with Liam, it seemed different. Shadowed. Like the scene for something seductive, not just a hotel room with sheets smelling like laundry detergent and a bowl of fruit no one would eat. Liam's presence shrunk the room a bit, even though as a man he wasn't terribly large--tall, but not some behemoth. Maybe it was that he drew one's focus. He certainly had Skye's attention.

The curtains were open and there was enough light from the Strip and the neon outside not to need to turn on any lamps. So he didn't and, gratefully, neither did Liam. Maybe it was cowardly, but the illusion of safety inthe dark was hard to shake.

Skye chewed on his lower lip as Liamstopped next to the bed, still holding his hand. "I have, um...I have condoms and there's lubrication on the nightstand there."He'd bought themearlier at one of the many sex shops inVegas.

It had occurred to him too late that he could have gotten the same items at the local Wal-Mart. Maybe he'd wanted, on some level, to experience the seedy a little bit. Either way, the result was the same. He was prepared.

Liamsmiled and ignored the items, instead drawing Skye up against him. He kept doing that, as if he liked having him close. Of course, that was ridiculous. Skye was just a job to him, but it added to the illusion the other man was methodically fostering. Liam was very good at this, and Skye let out a breath, allowing himself to leaninto his embrace for a moment. It was nice, even ifit wasn't real.

Then Liam kissed him again, and Skye mentally pulled out all the notes he'd made during the last kiss and applied that informationnow. He parted his lips and he kissed Liam back using all the same techniques the other man had shown a preference for earlier. And when Liampulled back, Skye was pleased to note that he looked somewhat stunned.

Liamgrinned and reached up to take Skye's glasses from him, setting them on the bedside table. "You take everythingveryliterally, are youaware ofthat?"

Skye's cheeks heated and he was grateful for the dim light of the room. "I apologize. It's just how I am. Veryanalytical. I realize youdon't think I'ma professor. Do you?"

Liamlaughed and shook his head, bringing his hand up to run his fingers through Skye's hair. "No. I think youneed some distraction."

Before Skye could protest that--quite the opposite, he wanted to remain fully cognizant so he could make the same sort of mental notes for the sex as he had for the kissing--Liam's mouth was on his again, and Skye couldn't seem to make himself pull back. It was becoming apparent that keeping his head was going to be difficult. But trying to stay fully detached wasn't going to work and would defeat the purpose altogether.

Sex was a very delicate balance, it seemed. Lesson number three.
This time, though, Liam didn't just kiss him. His long-fingered hands came up and began unzipping Skye's hoodie, peeling it down his arms and dropping it to the floor.
Oh.
His fingers itched to pick it up and at least drape it over the chair, but then Liam's tongue did this very clever twisty thing that Skye scrambled to try and copy himself. That earned him a very nice rumble that made himtingle allthe wayto his toes.
When Liam slid his hands under the hem of Skye's faded, somewhat ratty Frankie Says T-shirt, he jolted, not expecting it. The kiss broke, and Skye panted, looking up at Liam as the other man deliberately kept his hands where they were and, even more deliberately, very slowly slid them higher, bringing Skye's T-shirt up as well, until he was forced to lift his arms and let it be removed over his head.
He tried not to squirmas muchas he was inside. He wasn't the type to really care how people thought he looked, but standing there half-undressed in a hotel room with possibly the sexiest man he'd ever met and about to have sex for the first time... Skye succumbed to a bit ofvanityand wondered what Liamthought.
It became apparent, a few seconds later, that it wasn't bad things. Or maybe he was just a very good actor. He'd probably done this a hundred times and no longer had to even struggle to hide his true reactions when he met clients anymore. That was a sobering thought.
However, when Liam splayed one large, longfingered hand on Skye's ribcage and down his side to curlthere and pullhimclose again, he had to admit it felt very genuine. As did the heat in Liam's hazel eyes. Quite honestly, he looked as though he might devour Skye at any moment, not like someone struggling to contain his revulsion. That eased Skye's irrational and childishworries.
The kiss Liam slanted across his mouth dissolved the rest of Skye's petty vanity like mist in the morning sunshine. Skye didn't even manage to make any mental notes, overwhelmed by the smoldering glide of Liam's tongue into his mouth. Almost...possessive. How fancifula thought that was.
To distract himself in the hopes of maintaining
some
semblance of rational thought for the next five minutes, Skye pulled back enough to break the kiss, glancing up at Liam, then down as he reached to tug open the buttons onthe other man's shirt.
If he'd thought getting Liamshirtless was the way to keep a sane thought in his head, Skye was disabused of that notion as the shirt fell to the floor and all he could do was stare.
"Wow."
Liamchuckled. "I like that as a first impression."
Was he making fun? Skye couldn't tell and glanced up. Liam didn't look like he was mocking, just sort of amused, in a not bad way. He could live with that. As longas it was laughingwithhim, not at him.
"You're very handsome. Well, but then I guess you have to be, don't you, in your line of work?" He must spent hours at the gym, in a tanning salon. Even though his muscles didn't seem like the bulky gym kind. And that definitelywasn't one ofthose spraytans.
Skye's fingers itched to touch and he let himself, stretching a hand out to trail his fingers down Liam's hard stomach. His abs were tight and defined, but again, not all bulky and poking out the way those obnoxious six-packs did on the guys he'd see coming and going fromthe Gold's by his apartment back in LA. He wondered, oddly, what his skintasted like.
He had never wondered any such thing in allhis life.
Hmm.
Skye glanced up at Liam. "I had the thought just now of tasting your skin. Is that odd? Or common?" He'd like to keep some sort of track of where, if anywhere, his natural desires skewed from the norm. He figured someone like Liam, doing what he did, would be anexpert onthe percentages.
Liam exhaled, stomach sort of flexing under Skye's fingers. "I'd say it's pretty common. Lord knows, I'm having a similar thought about you." Now
that
was surprising and the way his pulse quickened intrigued Skye. "Go ahead ifyouwant."
Oh, he wanted. He definitely wanted. He leaned down, both hands on Liam's lean sides, and pressed his lips against the warm, smooth skin stretched across his ribcage. When he straightened, he looked up at Liam questioningly.
Liam just smiled, brows lifted. "I thought you were goingto taste. That involves your tongue, professor."
Skye sighed in exasperation. "I know that. I was just...testing."Intruth, he'd beena little shocked byhow warm and silky Liam's skin was. Golden and taut...not like his own, which was pale and dusted with dark hair. He was ingood shape, but not like Liam.
Liam smiled at the exasperated tone. Before Skye could bend down again, Liam toed off his shoes and gestured for Skye to do the same. "Come here, into the bed, Skye. Then you can conduct all the experiments youwant."
Honest to God, being this man's guinea pig was becoming more and more appealing with ever second that ticked by. A minute later, they were stretched out on the bed, and Liam shifted half-over Skye. "Tell me what you want, professor. Do you want to call the shots? Or do youwant to learnbydoing?"
Skye shivered and his cock stirred against Liam's hip. "I've always learned best by participating...um, hands on, so to speak."
Liam grinned. "Now there's something we have in common. I like the sound ofthat. I want youto tellme if anything I do doesn't feel right or if you don't like it." Not that he doubted Skye's ability to speak up. The mandidn't seemto have a filter at all.
Skye nodded, and Liam took that as his cue to continue. Slow and easy was the pace he wanted and suspected Skye needed. He seemed to need time to process what he was experiencing and feeling or he tried to pullback and stop things inorder to do so.
Liam began by pushing up onto one elbow and looking down at him. His hand splayed on Skye's bare chest. He was about Liam's height, but thinner, his skin a pale, creamyshade that contrasted withLiam's darker tan. There was a soft, sparse patch of black hair in the center of Skye's chest, and Liam couldn't resist, bending to nuzzle the spot as his hand curled on Skye's side and tugged him closer. And since he was so close anyway, it was just a breath of a motion to close his mouthonone ofthe other man's tight, duskynipples.
He might as well have stuck a poker in Skye's side, the way he reacted. The man hissed and arched, his hands coming up to clutch at Liam's shoulders. Liam eased off just enough not to overwhelmhim, tongue still sweeping slow, gentle circles around the puckered, damp peak.
"How does that feel?"he asked.
Skye's eyes were wide, seeming bigger than before now minus his glasses. "Veryintense. Is that normal?"
Liam smiled. A nervous client, he was used to. He skimmed one hand up and down Skye's side in a soothing manner. "For a man who's anything but, you seem awfully concerned with normal, Skye. If it feels good and feels natural, then it's all right. It's a good thing. Normal is all in the perspective." He flicked his tongue. "Well? How does it feel?"
Skye nodded, breath quick and shallow. "Very good. I'd like it ifyoudid it again. More, I mean."
Liam obeyed, this time shifting over to the other nipple and, in the same movement, over Skye, straddling his lean hips before closing his mouth on the other nipple.
"Oh my..."Skye arched again, mouth opening as he tilted his head back and then looked down. "Are yours sensitive like that? Mine seemverysensitive."
Without waiting for an answer, Skye gave Liam's chest a light shove and the next thing he knew their positions were reversed and those kiss-swollen pink lips were working experimental magic on his chest. All the while, black-as-night eyes peered up at him, gauging his response, probably putting it into some complicated equation that would determine whether or not the sex was a success.
The next lesson was definitely going to be about shutting off--or at least muffling--the analytical observer in Skye's mind. For the moment, however, Liamwas a little busyhavinghis mind blownbya virginwho'd never so much as kissed anyone before the last fifteen minutes. God help themboth.
Liam hissed and arched, which made Skye lift his head and smile. It changed his whole face, giving him a boyish, charming appeal far different from the intense, intelligent appealfroma second ago.
"So it is normal. Good." Looking pleased with his discovery, Skye pushed upright, straddling Liam's hips. "This feels natural. Like this. Canwe do it this way?"
Liam almost choked, swallowing hard instead. "You...youwant to ride me?"
Skye nodded, shifting his hips experimentally and nearly giving Liama heart attack in the process. "I think so. Yousaid what feels right, natural, remember?"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "I think there's a lot more to you than meets the eye, professor." Liam had gotten very good at reading people, and Skye was an open book. "Topping from the bottom seems just your style." A man that smart probably felt like he ought to be running the show at all times... Liamwondered how Skye would react to havingthe reins yanked right out of his hands.
Skye tilted his head. "What does that mean?"
"It means you want to be in control, even though youdon't want to do the fucking."
Skye blinked, and once again Liam could see his mind working. "Huh. You're right. I don't want to penetrate you. How did youknow?"
Liam shrugged, hands settling on Skye's lean hips. "You can just tell sometimes. I mean, not always; there are always those guys who surprise you, but most ofthe time it's pretty obvious after a little bit of messing around. Sometimes it doesn't even take messing around...youjust know."
Skye rocked his hips a little, lips curving when Liam groaned. "Then you could tell about me right away or did the...messingaround give it away?"
Liam shook his head. "I could tell. The minute you opened that door, I knew."
Skye glanced down at his hands on Liam's chest, and Liam's pulse ratcheted up again as those soft, pale hands moved over his skin slowly, exploring. "What would you have done if you were wrong?" Their eyes met. "What ifI'd wanted to...to fuck you?"
"Well, there is that old saying 'The customer is always right,'"he teased.
Skye blinked, then lifted one brow. "Really? You don't...have a preference?"
Liam slid his hands up Skye's back, drawing him down against his chest. "What I want right now is to make youfeelgood. That's mypreference."
Skye's gaze flicked to the nightstand again, and Liam followed the look to where the condoms and a bottle of lube sat. Skye shifted a little, and Liam could feelhis cock hard betweenthem.
"Maybe I should make something clear, since you seema little distracted."Liamlifted his head and rubbed a light kiss against Skye's mouth.
"Hmm?"Skye asked, breathcatching.
"No one is fuckinganyone tonight."
As expected, that got a distinct reaction as Skye's heavy, dark brows knit and he pushed up onto his hands to peer down at Liam. "Excuse me? I thought we were..."
Liam shook his head. "I'm the teacher, aren't I? You seemed very sure I ought to plan your lessons and youwanted me to teachyou...hands on, yousaid?"
Skye pushed up to sit astride Liam's hips with an indignant, befuddled expression on his face. "But...wait. Are you scamming me or something? Because I warn you, I am not going to be taken for a ride." He didn't seem to catch the amusement factor in his protest and his positioncurrentlyastride Liam's hips.
Liam chuckled, pushing up onto his elbows, one hand resting on Skye's thigh. "I don't think there was any way to misinterpret what I said, professor. No one's gettingfucked. Not me, not you."
"W-Why?"
Liam sat up, sliding his arm around the other man's waist and bending to nuzzle his neck at the warm juncture where collarbone met shoulder. "Because there's way more to learn about sex than just dick in ass, Skye. Did you start out solving college level equations? Or did you start out with easier ones and work your wayup?"
"Actually, when I was seven, I was accepted into Cal-Sci's youngmathematicianprogramand--"
Liam laughed and cut him off with a kiss. "Okay, forget I asked. There's no 'young sex god' program, okay? Youstart at the beginningand nowhere else."
"Why?"
Liam trailed his tongue up along Skye's neck, smiling at the way he shivered. "Because getting there is halfthe fun. Rushing ruins it. Well, not ruins it, not ifyou already know what you're doing. Rough and fast and hard can be mind-blowing. But you wanted to learn, right? So you know what to expect, what to do later, withguys youdate?"
Skye nodded, fingers curling on Liam's biceps. "Yes..."
"Then you want
all
the lessons. Not just the crash course. Not just the
Cliff's Notes.
Trust me." Liam lifted his head and met Skye's gaze. "You're going to like the longwayevenmore, I promise."
Skye appeared to be thinking about it, and Liam swore he could see all those wheels in his head turning. It was kind of fascinating, the way Skye processed things. Finally, the other man nodded. "All right. Then...ifwe're not goingto have sex, what are we going to do?"
Liam grinned wickedly. "I never said we weren't going to have sex. I said there wasn't going to be fucking. Bigdifference."