Special Needs (8 page)

“Are you saying my hotel is dirty?” Ryan laughed, but there was no smile in his eyes.

“Not in the sense of not being clean.” Roger raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

Liam couldn’t help but shake his head. What the hell was wrong with this guy? “Well, can’t deny The Lust Pit’s dirty.” He forced himself not to sound too snide.

Ryan shook his head. “And you would know...”

“Come on Ryan, isn’t this a sex hotel? It’s supposed to be dirty, right?” Roger’s lower face stretched into a smile, and he leaned down to poke Ryan’s arm with his fist in a pathetic attempt at redeeming himself.

“Yeah, the right amount of filth is expected,” Ryan mumbled and Liam was relieved to see Rod coming back with the rope, because if that wasn’t a super awkward interaction, he didn’t know what was.

“Here you go.” Rodney pressed the bundle of rope into Roger’s chest and kept it there until the man tugged it out of his grip. At this point, he looked more like pitbull than an obedient puppy.

“Right, thank you so much, Ryan.” Roger cleared his throat. “Promise I’ll buy it back.”

“Always happy to help.” Ryan smiled and Roger didn’t wait any longer to make his exit. He seemed in too much of a hurry to spare another glance at Liam, who followed him with a deep frown.

“Is he always like that?”

“God no!” Ryan made a theatrical pause. “He’s usually a lot worse. He was nice ‘cause he wanted something. More often he comes to complain about stuff.”

Rodney snorted and sat back behind the reception desk.

Liam looked at them in disbelief. “Then why are you being so nice to him?”

“We
are
his neighbors.” Rod exchanged looks with Ryan and shook his head with a sigh. “It’s not that hard for him to start making problems for us, even though none of our guests ever disturbed his peace.”

“Yeah, seemed like a super shy guy.” Liam cocked an eyebrow at Ryan.

“He’s... I don’t know. It’s like he comes to complain that a guest was swimming too close to his property and stuff like that. It’s annoying, so it’s best to have him on our side for the future.” Ryan started wheeling towards the elevator.

Liam spared one more look at Rod and followed his employer. “I’ll be off to the gym soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. I just wanted to show you something, since we keep having other things to do.”

“Okay.” Liam shrugged and entered the elevator with him. As soon as the door closed and they felt the pull, he gazed down at Ryan, remembering what he wanted to talk to him about.

“You were quick with the food,” he said innocently.

All Liam got from Ryan was a pout.

“Come on, say it,” Liam teased, poking at Ryan’s arm when they left the elevator on the second floor.

Ryan sighed and swatted his wrist. “I’m still thinking.”

“Oh, are you now?” Liam followed him down the corridor, which, like the one downstairs, was left in its original, vintage style. The erotic pictures on the walls would be a bit extravagant a hundred years ago, but framed by neutral, black wood, they were discreet. “Come on, Ryan, it was one mouthwatering pasta.” And he made it all healthy:
al dente
, with peas, lean bacon and a generous sprinkle of parmesan. There was no way anyone would prefer frozen french fries over something so amazing.

“Okay, okay, it was good. I liked the bacon. But you still have four meals to go to win your bet.” They stopped in front of a door with a chalkboard on it.

Liam rolled his eyes behind Ryan’s back and suddenly grabbed both of his arms. “I won’t be satisfied until I hear the whole sentence.” He chuckled, proud of a third score in a row. Four more and Ryan would lose their bet.

Ryan’s body went rigid. “Uhm. The meal you made Liam, was delicious. Even the peas. But I think it was because of the sauce they were in.”

“Better than fries,” Liam sang into his ear before straightening his back. He’d give himself a high-five if he had two right hands. It was a damn shame he didn’t, it would make the cooking much more efficient.

“It was better than fries,” Ryan muttered. “Now come in and see this room.”

“Is it the one I’ll get a discount on?” Liam rubbed his hands together and opened the door, holding it for Ryan. It was just a joke though. It would be an understatement to say business was going slowly, so he figured there was no difference which room he would rent for a low price if the hotel was completely empty at least every third night since Liam moved in. It’s been over a week now and he was getting the impression that the picture Ryan painted him, was done in chalk instead of oil paint. But who was he to judge, as long as he was getting paid?

“If you want to. You into schoolgirls?” Ryan looked up to him with a smile and wheeled into the room, which looked like a old-timey classroom. There were four wooden chair-desks, a green chalkboard and a teacher’s desk. A thick ruler leaning against the wall already gave Liam ideas about what went on here. He whistled in appreciation, examining the whole interior. One could shoot one of those period movies in here, not necessarily one that featured naked butts.

“Impressive.”

“There’s even this cone here!” Ryan wheeled over behind the teacher’s desk, all smiley and excited. He fished out a white, pointy cap with ‘dunce’ written on it in bright blue. “You can put it on someone and make them stand in the corner if they misbehaved.”

Liam felt his grin broaden against his will. “With their pants off.”

“Obviously.” Ryan snorted, but Liam could see him go red.
So cute.

Liam felt the need to clear his throat. “So, what do you want me to see?”

“I just want you to know all the rooms in case someone asks you about them, there’s fire hazard, or you need to come and help with anything.”

“Okay, are there any fire extinguishers in the rooms, or do we use the ones from the corridor?” Liam bit his lip. It suddenly occurred to him that in case of fire, Ryan wouldn’t be able to come down from his room without assistance. Did he have any emergency plans at all, or did he count on someone always being at home with him?

“There’s one there.” Ryan pointed to the corner of the room. “And two in the corridor. In the same places on each floor.”

Liam nodded, deciding he’d ask about the fire precautions later. “If anything happened, do we have a way of opening the door quick?”

“Yeah, there’s a set of keys at the reception, just in case, and each room has a panic button, if something goes haywire.” Ryan looked up at him. “Rodney is the muscle of the hotel and he’d run over to see what’s happening, but I suppose he’d be grateful if you helped out in case something really did need an intervention. I don’t know if you’re comfortable with that?”

Liam shrugged. “Sure.” He supposed he could handle most quarrels lovers could have in a place like this.

“We never really had any serious problems, so don’t worry,” Ryan was quick to add.

“Well, it’s not very busy,” Liam muttered, walking over to an antique cupboard. He opened it and smiled at the arsenal of bondage and spanking gear. There were even some packaged costumes.

“It’s a bit of a quiet period. We even had this couple from Italy once. They stayed for a week.” Liam could hear the pride in Ryan’s voice and that was enough to shut him up for the time being. He didn’t want to poke at his confidence.

“If you say so.” He grabbed one of the canes from its place in the cupboard and swung it through the air, pleased with the swishing sound it made. It was clear Ryan invested a lot of money and effort to make this place so cool. Because it was. Liam only found it strange that he never heard of it before.

“You like that one?” Ryan wheeled over to the cupboard. “I like the paddles more.” He pointed to a leather one. “It was custom made.”

Liam gulped, watching his sweet, pink mouth stretch into a small smile. “Canes are more... ‘classroom’, I think.” He shrugged. “But I wouldn’t use it on anyone I liked.”

“Yeah, a bit too hardcore for me as well.” Ryan kept looking at the paddle, lost in thought. Liam pulled it out of the other man’s hand and slapped it against his own forearm, curious how much it would hurt.

That got Ryan’s attention again. “You like to be on the receiving end? Sorry! I mean... it’s none of my business.” He swallowed and wheeled away from the cupboard. Liam heard him curse beneath his breath.

“Not really, but it’s an interesting feeling.” He smiled, watching Ryan escape towards the door. That boy was really too shy for his own good.

Liam put the paddle back into the cupboard and followed him. “I think I gotta get going.”

“Yeah, sure.” Ryan was already out in the corridor. “And with the paddles, it’s often more about the slap than the pain.”

“Yeah, you like that?” Liam barely stopped his hand from pinching Ryan’s cheek.

“I... it’s...” Ryan pouted. “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

Liam shrugged. “No?”

“I kinda tried it myself,” Ryan whispered, his face already turning pink again. “Just don’t tell anyone.”

“Uh.” Liam’s body suddenly felt very hot, his lungs emptying. “What do you mean ‘yourself’?”

Ryan hid the lower half of his face with his hands and gave a nervous laugh. “Like you did on your arm. Yourself. But I did... you know where.”

“You paddled your own ass?” Liam moved closer to the back of Ryan’s chair, because the image of Ryans pale ass covering in red welts with every slap he inflicted on himself, made his cock twitch. If Liam ever walked in on him in that situation, then everything be damned, he
would
join the party.

“Yeah. Pretty pathetic attempt though.” Ryan shook his head.

“Are you done there boys?” Fay’s voice ripped the awkward-yet-strangely-sexy atmosphere apart. “Some people are actually working, you know,” she complained, appearing at the door with a cleaning trolley. Even when wearing the simple uniform, she had her hair and makeup all glammed up. She claimed applying all that facepaint was her way to avoid plastic surgery, but Liam would rather call it an obsession.

“Yeah, yeah. I was just showing Liam... stuff.” Those words made Fay raise her eyebrows, but she didn’t say anything more as they passed her.

They didn’t return to the topic of paddling, or any other form of spanking for that matter, on their way downstairs. Ryan confessed Fay intimidated him a little, but he kept her in the job, because she worked in the hotel when it was still owned by his aunt and was a regular B&B. Liam on the other hand didn’t have anything against her, but thought it was pretty sweet of Ryan to let her stay. Ryan was a great guy, no wonder they got along so well. It didn’t even feel like work, more like helping out a friend.

He promised to pick up a few things they forgot to buy during their last visit in the shops and drove off with Ryan waving him goodbye from the front porch. Liam smiled. He already liked that place. It was surprisingly quiet and peaceful considering how little it took to get into town. Apart from The Lust Pit, there was only one other house overseeing the Posen Beach, Roger’s, about thirty yards away, so it was pleasantly private.

Only ten minutes later, he arrived at his gym. He was a bit late, so he made the changing into a very brief affair and hastened for the weight room. As expected, his buddies were already there.

Both Lizzy and Bo were doing weightlifting, but stopped to wave at him.

“Damn, Liam! What the hell? Haven’t seen you in what? Three weeks?” Bo ran his fingers through his long greasy hair.

“Changed work and home. You know how that is.” Liam grabbed his hand and gave him a strong pat on the back before turning to Lizzy. The guy had more tattoos than both him and Bo combined, and Liam noticed a new one around his knee. All of his ink was a mixture of different lizards and dragons with scales covering some of the space between them. The only untouched place on Lizzy was his surprisingly warm, friendly face.

“Changed home?” Lizzy furrowed his eyebrows. “Does that mean Todd is no more?”

“What? Man! When did that happen? I always thought he was a dick though,” Bo quickly added.

Liam rolled his eyes and pulled his hair back, securing it with a hairband. If this were the first time something like this happened, he would have asked one of them to let him crash on the couch for a few nights, but in the end, he was far too embarrassed to do that again. And again. And again. “Remember when I told you he planned a trip to Hawaii? Well, guess what, he took some silly blond surfer boy instead of me.”

“Fuck, man. That sucks. But at least it won’t be you sucking.” Bo nudged him with an elbow and passed him one of the bigger weights.

Liam chuckled. Yep, having straight friends was great, as it lacked the inevitable complications of being friends with another gay guy. They weren’t available, and he could safely get drunk in their company without risking a very awkward morning after. The one thing he resented though was their lack of appreciation for receptive cocksucking, as demonstrated by Bo, but in the end, nobody was perfect. Liam wasn’t judging them for liking pussy.

Lizzy on the other hand eyed Liam more carefully. “So, where are you working now?”

“I’m a live-in caretaker for this cool kid. And yes, he’s gay, obviously.” Liam declined the weight, as he wanted to do a quick warm-up first. “By the way Lizzy, you’ll be meeting him soon.” He wiggled his eyebrows.