Special Needs (12 page)

The view from his room never failed to impress him. With the ocean reflecting the setting sun, the whole Posen Beach area looked so cozy he’d love to curl up in the sand and let the sound of the waves lull him to sleep. The light, salty breeze was like a touch of heaven to his flushed face. He'd never want to live anywhere else.

Ryan wheeled closer to the railing of the massive balcony and quickly pulled up his pants when he spotted Liam sitting on the beach, cigarette in hand and a surfing board to his side. He wasn't all that far away, but Ryan still wished he had a spyglass. Liam’s back was gorgeous, sculpted like an underwear model's and, as he knew, decorated with a dark tattoo of birds flying over a grey, lifeless city. Oh yes, he could imagine how watching this man handle him would be a treat to the website’s subscribers. Being taken care of by Liam certainly was a pleasure to
him
.

Maybe he could pretend he was having a worse day and needed help changing his clothes? He gave up on the idea almost immediately. It wouldn't be fair to abuse Liam like that when he's been nothing but dedicated so far. And most of all, he didn't want him to see his legs. God, he really was a masochist, keeping this guy so close, while knowing he was off limits. Then again, maybe Liam wouldn't mind being filmed while carrying him down the stairs? That was innocent enough and could potentially get Ryan many new subscribers and with them, a lot more money to keep the hotel running.

He let his thoughts drift, imagining how it would feel to be trapped under Liam's heavy, firm body.

The real Liam got up to his feet, gently patting his butt and thighs to get the sand off his black swimming shorts. With the cigarette still in his mouth, he moved around a bit, clearly enjoying the warm glow. He was such a sexy piece of man.

“Liam?” Ryan yelled from the balcony.

His caretaker turned around and gave him a sparse wave. “Wassup?”

“I wanna come down.”

Liam didn't answer right away and for a terrible moment, Ryan thought that maybe he wanted to quit. It was hard to read his expression from afar, but Ryan's whole body slumped with relief when Liam nodded and headed back to the building, surfboard in hand.

He really wanted to make up for the way he acted earlier that day. Liam deserved it.

He wheeled back into his room and looked around to check if everything looked decent. The sad thing was that he couldn’t think of anything he could possibly give Liam as a peace offering. The sound of heavy footsteps on the staircase made Ryan jumpy, and he was relieved to hear a knock on the door.

When Liam entered the room, he was shirtless and barefoot, still in his beach shorts. His sandy hair was falling around his face in thick, wet strands, and it was hard not to stare at the biomechanical tattoos on his pecs. He gave Ryan a polite smile and held the door for him. His usual playfulness was gone. It was making Ryan more than uncomfortable.

“I saw you there on the beach and sort of... wished I was there. Let's just go to the pier, and we can chat.” He wheeled out into the corridor, followed by a sigh that made him cringe.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” muttered Liam.

Ryan swallowed, suddenly overcome by the feeling that it had been a horrible idea. “You can go back surfing if you want. I’ll just sit around on the pier. That’s no problem,” he blurted out, daring to look up at Liam, whose face was painfully neutral. Ryan forced himself to take a deep breath and held out his hands towards the other man.

Liam picked him up without a word, but didn't try to shake or tickle him as he often did, settling on a firm hold.

“Do you want a snack?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

“No, thanks.” Ryan was tensing up with every second, to the point when even the joints of his immobilized legs felt uncomfortable. How was he supposed to start this conversation? Fuck. Being so close to Liam got his stomach fluttering, and he let his head drop to his shoulder, breathing in the intoxicating concoction of Liam and the salty ocean breeze, still so fresh on the naked skin. His belly knotted as he took in the heat radiating from that strong body, eyes fixing on the stubbly jaw line. Liam was never completely smooth, he claimed his skin was too sensitive for a close shave. Ryan would gladly soothe it with his tongue, tasting the salt and spice straight from the other man's neck and cheek. But of course, he didn’t.

Several minutes later, when they strolled down the flat, wheel-chair accessible track to the pier, the overall mood hadn't gotten any better. Liam walked by his side, hands deep in his pockets until they reached the short pier. It even had a railing to prevent a wheelchair from falling into the water and usually, coming here had a calming effect on Ryan's nerves. Not today though. The uncomfortable silence was gnawing at his insides like a hungering parasite. Liam leaned over the railing and opened a crumpled pack of smokes. He took out a cigarette, along with a thin lighter and soon, the salty breeze mingled with bitter fumes of tobacco. If Ryan didn’t know any better, he’d assume it was Liam’s equivalent of showing him the middle finger.

“Sooo...” Ryan cleared his throat, watching the quiet water below the pier. “I thought... maybe we should talk a bit about today.” It took a lot of effort to come up with even this useless conversation starter.

“It wasn’t a mistake.” Liam inhaled some smoke and closed his eyes for a moment. Despite the easygoing poise, Ryan couldn't help but notice Liam's moves were more tense than usual.

“Hm? What do you mean?” He took the chance to quickly slide his gaze up Liam’s half naked body. So many tattoos. If only he could follow the ghastly stairs on Liam's side, all the way up to a white door underneath his armpit. And those challenging words below his collar bones,
‘You will be surfed’
. Ryan wouldn't even dare to dream of them coming true.

“That you shouldn’t make a fuss over one rejection.” Liam cocked an eyebrow at him, practically forcing air into Ryan's lungs with the stare alone.

“I know. I threw a fit like a whiny little bitch. Sorry.”

Liam snorted. “Keep going.”

“And maybe I would like to be with someone,” Ryan sighed, feeling silly. “And I shouldn’t have pinched you.” His eyes followed the swirl of smoke. It seemed to caress Liam’s lips. Just the way he would love to do.

“Yeah, that was just like... wow.” Liam exhaled, looking to the horizon. In the orange-tinted sunlight, it was hard to refrain from staring at him. “Not very ladylike.”

Ryan shot him a thunderbolt glance. “Fucktard! I’m trying to say something important here.”

“So say it. You hurt my feelings, you know,” Liam said, facing Ryan with his arms folded over his chest. Ryan was pretty sure he wasn’t serious, but he couldn’t take any chances, so he cleared his throat and looked straight at Liam.

“I wanna say that
maybe
I’m not so good with people. So... maybe if you helped me, maybe I could actually get a date.” Saying this took so much effort, that he felt physically tired right after he was finished.

“Okay.”

“That’s all you got?” Ryan rolled his eyes and stared into the ocean, feeling his face flush.

“What do you want me to say?” Liam threw the cigarette butt into the water.

Ryan squirmed in the seat. “I don’t know. I’m just moody, I guess.” He turned his back at Liam, not sure anymore if the other man was even serious about helping him. He didn’t expect to feel tender fingertips at the top of his head, and he barely kept himself from a noticeable tremble.

“We’ll work on it,” Liam said, without even a trace of doubt.

“I bet you have experience.”

“Yeah.” That was a groan. “I bet picking up a guy is pretty much like picking up a slutty chick.”

Chapter 7

“So I emailed all those porn studios and one just got back to me today. They said they haven’t decided yet, but asked for more photos of the Monster Lair. They’ve never seen anything like it so they might want to use it as their next set!” Ryan was beaming as he told the news to Rodney, who gave him a weak smile.

“That’s great news. We need to get the money in,” he said, his shoulders visibly tense. He chomped on his toast and leaned back in the chair, letting his head roll from side to side with a soft sigh.

The kitchen was peaceful, with the evening sunlight getting in through the blinds to create a striped pattern on the floor. The smell of the chocolate cookies Liam had made, still lingered in the room, they had two bookings for the evening, and Fay was out on a date, which meant she would be a little less touchy about her age for at least a few days. That was like a powdered mix for a great evening. Just add water. And
voila
, Liam barged in, complete with ‘This t-shirt is offensive’ printed on the front of his well-fitting top.

“Back. Are you ready?”

“Yeah!” Ryan wheeled over to him with a huge smile. “I was just telling Rod that there might be a porn crew contracting us for a movie. I’m becoming a marketing mastermind!”

“Oh? That’s awesome.” Liam opened the fridge to grab a homemade smoothie.

“It is! Because if they come, they’ll probably have Matt Powers with them.” Too excited to stay still, Ryan kept circling the table. He felt like someone shot liquidized energy straight into his veins.

“Is that your favorite actor, or something?”

“One of them for sure. He’s got this smile... and he’s inked, of course. A firm ass and a big cock. What more could a man want?” Ryan nudged his thing with an elbow, feeling ridiculously hyper. “C’mon Liam! Let’s go!”

“Sounds promising.” Liam followed him, as soon as he downed the smoothie. “I have everything ready in the car.”

“Great! We got flyers and posters, Rod!” Ryan yelled, as they were leaving the kitchen, but all the reply he got was a grunt. He decided not to care. “Liam, I’m so nervous!” He looked up at his caretaker. Being at the level of his crotch was a nice addition to his day, as it gave him numerous opportunities to peek at the bulging front of his pants.

“Yeah? No cold feet?” Liam winked at him with a lazy grin. Many of the places they were going to visit today were gay friendly, and Liam informed him that they would be keeping their eyes open.

“I am a bit stressed, but it’s nothing. They can already see I’m a freak. I don’t look like a Mormon missionary and
then
give them a BDSM hotel flyer.” Ryan wore a tight fitting t-shirt with a
My Little Pony
version of
Edward Scissorhands
and had worked on his hair so that it was nicely lifted and immaculate.

“Don’t worry, you wouldn’t attract those who go for the boy next door type anyway.” Liam helped him into the car and soon, they were driving south to San Diego.

Some places they visited that day rejected their request and didn’t take any flyers, others were interested in an exchange and packed Ryan’s lap full of their own promotional materials. Altogether, it was a satisfying day, that was to end at their top destination - The Cave, the biggest fetish night club in the county. If Ryan got them to take the flyers and posters, it might really get the hotel into serious business.

When they arrived, it was already late, and Ryan could feel the heavy beat of music coursing through his body as they approached the entrance. Liam pushed his chair towards the door and surprisingly, the big, leather-clad bouncer smiled at them.

“Long time no see.”

Ryan blinked and let his head fall back to look at his caretaker. Liam had never mentioned being a regular... or being friends with a bouncer at a fetish club for that matter. Not that they knew each other all that long, but it seemed relevant.

“Been busy,” Liam replied. Thankfully, there were no stairs and he didn’t have to carry Ryan in. As welcome as it normally was, Ryan was determined to make a professional impression, which was hard enough in his situation, even without being carried around like a Disney princess.

The bouncer squatted in front of Ryan as if he were a little kid. “Can I see your ID?”

Ryan pouted, but complied. His only hope was that he wasn’t going red. The situation was embarrassing enough for his liking. Why did people always have to bend over or kneel when they talked to him? “I’m twenty five.”

“Well, you’re lucky enough to look underage. Good for you.” The bouncer returned his ID after a brief look at his date of birth.

“Why? You into age play?” Ryan grinned at him, intent on behaving like he believed any other customer would.

The man gave him the evil eye. “Get going, big mouth.”

Ryan looked back at Liam with a smug smile as they entered the pulsing club.

“Someone’s got attitude today,” Liam commented loud enough to speak over the music as he pushed Ryan through the dark corridor, towards the main room.

The Cave was raw, with gray, undecorated walls and a low ceiling. It reminded Ryan of a bomb shelter, only with a huge bar, with what looked like thick, rusty chains wrapped over the counter. Red light added to the surreal atmosphere, adding color to the black leather and latex that so many of the patrons were wearing.

“Liam, we have to ask for the manager.” Ryan pouted, looking around the main room. He couldn’t help the feeling that the number of men was disproportionately large. And some of the women were taller than the average female. Maybe because of those Lady Gagaesque platform shoes that seemed to be all the rage.