Special Needs (44 page)

Liam drew in a loud breath. “Is that a ‘please, take some dirty pictures of me’?”

“Okay guys, I’m hanging up now,” said Cole, and then, the call ended.

“Did I creep out your brother?” Ryan didn’t seem upset about the possibility though.

“Nah, he’s just embarrassed, but that’s normal.” Liam put the cell back into his jean pocket and slid both of his arms behind Ryan’s back, pulling closer into an embrace and burying his face in the soft fuzz on Ryan’s nape.

“Why? Is he shy?” Ryan hugged him back without hesitation. It was nice to feel he was as hungry for touch as Liam.

“A bit.” Liam grinned, nuzzling Ryan’s nose. He felt so warm inside when Ryan was around. “Had the same girlfriend for ages and he’s kinda discreet.”

“Not like me and my big mouth, huh?” Ryan’s fingers massaged the back of his neck.

“Definitely not.” Liam kissed him with a soft sigh and sucked in the ring in Ryan’s bottom lip. He loved the contrast between soft flesh and the smooth surface of metal. “And for the record, I love how much your big mouth can accommodate.”

“Bastard. You just want me to talk less.” Ryan pulled on Liam's hair gently. “Come on. Work first. We have to work on the decorations in the hall. I got these clothes mannequins for next to nothing on Ebay, but now we have to creepify them.”

“You got it.” Liam hesitantly pulled away and got to his feet. “See? No boner yet, we can work.”

“Let’s just hope you don’t get one from looking at naked mannequins. Now
that
would be creepy.”

Ryan led the way to the lounge and they both greeted Rodney at the reception desk, as he was styling a wig with a deep frown.

“Hiya Rod, any ideas?” Liam scratched his chin, looking at the faceless mannequins standing by the wall like a squad of creeps. “They kinda look like Slenderman.”

Rod ignored the comment. “Oh yes. We’re gonna have lights behind them, so they look like they could be people.”

“I like where you’re going with this.” Ryan grinned and glanced up at Liam, who winked at him.

“You always like where I’m going.” He made his way to a plastic bag full of clothes they got at a thrift store.

“I meant Rodney. I have no idea who this Slenderman is and to be honest, I’m afraid to ask.” Ryan opened his eyes wide and shook his head, but the corners of his mouth were tense from keeping a smile at bay.

“What? You scared of finding out Liam has a kink for skinny cocks?” Rodney asked with a straight face.

Liam rolled his eyes. “I have no idea who he is, I just saw porn with him on some image board. Very tall, white skin, no face...”

Ryan gave him a blank stare. “You watch porn with a guy with no face?”

“Ryan, that is some serious competition.” Rodney kept mocking them as he slid his arms around the mannequin bust he used as a wig stand.

“Oh come on. It’s like watching guys in masks... since when is that a crime?” Liam shook his head and pulled out a dirty, white coat of the bag. “We could use this for a doctor costume.”

“Let’s just take the stuff to the lounge. A doctor without a face, that your thing?” Ryan winked at him and wheeled down the corridor.

“Why, are you eager to start a new career?” Liam grabbed a random mannequin and followed.

“Maybe,” Ryan grinned. “Think my fans would appreciate that?”

That comment made Liam’s good mood plummet. He put the mannequin in the far corner of the main room and threw the white coat over its head.

“That was a ‘no’ then,” Ryan muttered, moving over to another artificial woman that Rodney must have brought in earlier.

Liam scowled. He didn’t want Ryan to be treated like an object. None of the guys who visited his site knew him, and some of the stuff they were writing was pretty disgusting. Like he was some fucking masturbation toy. Liam figured that many people thought that way of their one night stands, and even more so, about the porn models they watched on the internet, but for him, it's never been like that. Sex was personal and he enjoyed his lovers' company, even when he knew it would only last hours. The things some of those people were writing to Ryan and about him, made Liam’s blood boil.

“Well, you know I’m not happy about that... thing.”

“Okay, okay, whatever, sorry I mentioned it.” Ryan rolled his eyes.

“Listen, Ryan...” Liam shrugged, slowly walking around the room. His eyes wandered over Ryan’s braced legs, his lovely arms and pretty, boyish face.

“Huh?” He pretended to be interested in the mannequin’s fingers.

“If the business is going up, maybe you could like... at least drop the video chat?” Liam swallowed as he stopped behind Ryan’s back, all tense.

Ryan slowly looked back at him and reached out to grab his hand. “I suppose I could try and see how it goes.” He closed his mouth and looked down to his feet. There was a moment of tense silence, before he spoke again. “Liam, I don’t like them that much anymore, ‘cause they keep asking about my foot...”

Liam gave his fingers a soft squeeze. He didn’t know what to think. “So you actually liked them? Ever?”

Ryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He clearly gave away more than he wanted to. “I... I didn’t have anyone,” he said in the end. Liam shook his head and squatted to Ryan’s side, still gently holding his hand.

“How is that an answer?” he asked, watching Ryan’s pale face start to bloom with redness. It was the poster expression for ‘uncomfortable’.

“So, I’m a bit fucked up, okay?”

Liam’s brows shot up. “Are you?”

“Obviously.” Ryan rolled his eyes.

Liam pressed a soft kiss to his arm. “Maybe that’s a side of you that you’re not showing me then.”

“What do you mean?” Finally, Ryan turned his face towards Liam and bowed down to kiss his thumb. The gesture made Liam feel all kinds of fuzzy inside.

“Like... nothing you’d done was fucked up. I mean, you don’t even do actual porn, so what’s that all about?” He looked straight into Ryan’s eyes, as if that could make him spill the information. Where was this self-loathing babble even coming from?

“You don’t seem to think it’s normal.” Ryan looked at the mannequin again, his nostrils flaring. It made Liam press his lips together in frustration.

“Because of the shit they write! It’s like they don't even see you as a person.”

“It’s just... It doesn’t matter, right? Do you think about the actor playing ‘Slenderman’ when you jerk off to it?”

Liam got the impression his eyebrows got all the way to his hairline. “Well, he doesn’t have a face, that’s for one, and you’re not a character, you’re a person. You tell them about your daily life, as if they were your friends!”

“I used to be very lonely, Liam,” Ryan whispered, trying to slide his fingers out of Liam's palm, but Liam didn't let him.

Used to.

“Well, now you aren’t. You don’t need to talk to some creeps.” Liam slid his arm around Ryan’s shoulders and kissed the side of his head through the sweet-smelling blue mane.

“Just one creep I get to share my filth with, yeah?” There was a hint of a smile on his lips as he looked up.

“I’m not a creep. I’m just the neighborhood’s favorite perv.” Liam nuzzled Ryan’s cheek. “Who loves your filth.”

“I don’t think you could handle all of it.” Ryan smiled and closed his eyes.

“Oh! N
ow
you got me interested.” Liam wiggled his brow in suggestion.

Ryan licked his lips. “I think what turned me on was that I like bondage and a lot of what they were writing sounded a bit like that. You know, about me laying down, unable to move,” Ryan said, studying Liam’s face.

“Oh...” Liam shook his head in wonder. Why didn’t he think of that? It made sense... in a way.

“And it felt safe, ‘cause it’s not like I meet them in real life.”

“You know Ryan, if you want bondage, I will be happy to deliver.”

“I know.” He looked down at their intertwined fingers. “I was kind of thinking that when the results clear, maybe we could try the Psych Ward.” Every next word was quieter than the one before it.

Liam got the impression that his vision blurred around Ryan’s face, which was still clear and crisp. “Shit, sweetie...”

“Yes or yes?” Ryan laughed, but his sweaty palm betrayed his nerves.

“Hnn, make it a double yes!” And with that, he gave Ryan a long, passionate kiss. His mind filled with images of Ryan in a straitjacket, so vulnerable and helpless.

They didn’t have long to enjoy each other’s lips, as Liam’s phone beeped with the signal of an incoming message. Seconds later, Ryan’s joined in. They looked up at each other simultaneously.

“You think it’s the results?” Ryan whispered. “If it is, the coincidence is like God telling us we need to fuck. Now.”

Liam exhaled and reached into his pocket. This was the one moment he always felt worry twisting around his guts, right before he saw the actual result. “Let’s find out.”

Ryan swallowed and looked at his own phone. “It’s from the clinic. One... Two... Go,” he said and opened the message.

Liam looked down at the display of his cell and let out a long breath he didn’t realize he was holding back. Relief washed through him along with a wave of delicious heat. “Well?”

“I’m good to go. Fresh as a daisy and clear as a... uhm... piece of paper?” Ryan laughed out loud, his eyes shyly darting to Liam’s face.

“Me too.” Liam turned the cell to show Ryan the message. His skin tingled with anticipation.

Ryan bit on the piercing in the middle of his lower lip. “You excited?”

Liam swallowed, his cock already swelling in his jeans at the sole idea of what they were now free to do. “I think the world wants to tell us something.”

“So, my lovely boyfriend...” Ryan wrapped his arms around Liam’s neck. “Would you be my date for the Psych Ward?”

Rodney chose this particular moment to drag two mannequins into the lounge. “Are you guys gonna help me or what?”

Liam chuckled and pressed his forehead against Ryan’s arm, but moments later, he looked straight into his eyes, trying to wordlessly tell him what he wanted. Work could wait, his libido wouldn't.

Ryan bit his lip ring again. “Uhm... not? Sorry Rod. It’s important.”

“Yeah, something came up,” Liam announced, grabbing the handles of Ryan’s chair and pushing it towards the door, past Rodney, who turned his head after them with a frown.

“You’re going to fuck, aren’t you?”

Liam burst out laughing and trotted towards the elevator. “Shit, I want you so bad!” He bowed down to bite the base of Ryan’s neck.

“Fuck you, guys! And all I’m left with is this plastic head! Shit!” They heard Rodney’s yell from the lounge before the elevator door closed behind them.

Ryan just laughed, but Liam could clearly see his cheeks redden in the elevator mirror. “But what do you want to do? It’s gonna be more fun if we can talk it over...”

Liam swallowed and slowly ran his fingertips over his lover’s shoulder. He loved how soft and smooth they were. “I know you want to be in bondage.”

“Yeah, so I’m guessing I’d be like the patient, yeah?”

Liam bit his lip, stopping for a moment to think about what he wanted to say. He didn’t want to disappoint Ryan, or make him think too much. “Um... you know, I have this fantasy of overpowering authority figures,” was what he eventually came up with.

“Oh... okay.” Ryan frowned for a moment, but then winked at him. “Like your boss?”

Liam felt himself relax at the lack of protest, and he stroked Ryan’s forehead before pushing him out of the elevator as it opened. “Just like that.”

“I have an idea!” Ryan’s smile widened, and he looked up at Liam as excited as if it was Christmas at the end of the corridor.

Chapter 21

Ryan’s heart was pounding with excitement. For the longest time, he couldn’t get himself to knock on the door. His ‘patient’, Liam, was waiting inside, and the fact that he could now suck him dry with a clear conscience was already getting Ryan hard. He put on the doctor’s coat from the thrift store and a pair of white linen trousers that were a bit too large, but at least they accommodated the braces underneath. He didn’t want to have to take them off again, like on that horrible date with Stuart-the-psycho.

It took some more time, but Ryan finally bit the bullet and knocked. There was no answer, of course, so he opened the door and slowly wheeled inside. He locked the room and scanned the white, sterile space. The Ward had a double bed, made out of two old-fashioned metal frames, but it was now hidden behind a screen. To the left was a gynecological chair, which could also be flattened and made into a bed. Two large, operating theatre style lamps loomed over the room, giving it an unearthly glow reflected by the white wood of the floor. The silence inside was unsettling and even knowing it was Liam that was waiting for him, he started getting the creeps. He drew in a sharp breath when his eyes finally spotted a pair of muscled legs, curled on the floor behind the medical chair.