Manservant

by Shari J. Ryan

  I don’t have it in me to reply because I’m bent forward with the palms of my hands holding me up on the tiled bench as he continues spraying powered water into me.

  I feel like I’m coming close and I’m embarrassed to admit it, but the words come on their own accord, “I’m so close,” I cry out.

  As if I should have known that would have been his cue to stop, giving me the female version of blue balls, whatever the hell that may be called, he slides his soapy hands down the front of my body, dipping two fingers into me while kissing my shoulder. “Was payback a bitch?” he mutters.

  “No,” I reply, feeling as though I still kind of won a little.

  Liam turns me around and lifts me up, sliding me onto him. We’re nose to nose, looking directly into each other's eyes, but I can see the corner of his lips perk into an adorable smirk before he kisses me. His arms buckle around my back, still holding me in place as he pumps in and out. For the first time in possibly forever, I feel a bliss between my legs and in my chest at the same time. God, I think I’ve fallen for this guy I’ve been diligently trying to hate.

  Our lips part and he sweeps his mouth up toward my ear. “You’re beautiful as hell, and there isn’t a word hotter than hot to describe what just happened.” He’s still thrusting into me as he’s speaking so movingly, and it’s such a turn on.

  “You’re hot too,” I manage to reply with. Sooo tactful. I’m just . . . I’m amazing. All day, every day. No one can beat my wit. Ugh.

  He lowers his arms and pulls in toward my lower back, giving him access to my breasts that he familiarizes himself with, tenderly licking each nipple as if they were tiny lollipops he was desperately trying to get to the center of. The sensation of his girth and flicking tongue brings me to the brink of sobbing out his name and begging him never to stop, but with the on-again, off-again orgasm, my body is confused and convulsing continuously, just begging him to keep doing what he’s doing.

  “Holy fuck,” he says, releasing into me. “Shit, you are—wow.”

  Feeling like I could still run another mile in this marathon, my muscles are aching, and his arms are beginning to give out. I reach outside of the shower and grab two towels from the rack as he cranks the water off.

  “So now that we got the answer to the question of whether we’re capable of good sex together or not, we should probably talk or something,” he says, stepping out of the shower behind me.

  “Talk?” I question.

  “Okay, never mind, we’ll just cuddle. Chicks like that shit anyway, right?”

  “Cuddle?” I laugh. No one has ever wanted to cuddle with me because I pick the good-looking guys who want to sneak out of my room at three in the morning.

  “Yeah, I want to fucking cuddle. You have a problem with that?” he growls.

  Zero problems with cuddling Liam, despite breaking my one rule.

  I dry off before pulling my comforter down and climb into my bed, immediately feeling the exhaustion from the day set in. Liam slides in behind me, pulling the covers up to his neck and wraps his arm around my waist. “You smell like flowers,” he tells me.

  “You smell like my shampoo,” I reply.

  “Good. I like it.” He kisses the back of my neck softly and tugs me to roll onto my back, mounting me again. “Don’t get too excited,” he says.

  I don’t say a word, waiting to see what he means by that, but I’m quick to find out as he lowers his face and presses his lips against mine. His body heavily falls to my side as his fingers sweep over my cheeks and wrap around the backs of my ears. Thinking this kiss couldn’t possibly get any better, his tongue slips into my mouth, accompanying a soft moan from the back of his throat. I loop my arms around his smooth, rigid back and melt into the bed, feeling an abundance of emotions and feelings I didn’t intend to feel this summer—especially with Liam.

  When our breaths fall weak, he replaces his arm around my waist and nestles into the pillow. “Mind if I sleep over?” he whispers into my ear.

  “I can’t think of a better way to sleep.”

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Liam whispers into my ear, waking up the most sensitive of my senses before the sunlight violates my eyelids. “We have to get up for our swim lesson.”

  “You mean your next chance to cop a feel?” I groan.

  “Exactly,” he says while brushing a strand of hair off my face.

  I won’t complain about waking up like this because I can think of far worse ways to be woken up, but the thought of going swimming right now is not appealing. Regardless, I do need to learn how to swim, so I have to suck it up. Peeling my eyes open, I twist my head to the side, seeing Liam’s morning glow smiling at me. His hair is all over the place and looks sexy as hell. Ironically, I know what I look like if I don’t brush my hair and dry it after a shower, so he’s in for a rude awakening when I sit up. Not to mention, I most likely have smudges of black makeup encircling my eyes and a lipstick ring around my mouth. I must look like a freaking raccoon clown. Is that a thing? Is that why he’s smiling at me? Trying to hold in his laughter.

  “How did you sleep?” I ask, rubbing at my face to erase whatever is making me look worse than I would without makeup.

  He sits up a little straighter and bunches the blankets over his lap. “Actually, I was sleeping really well until the bed started vibrating.”

  I close my eyes, trying to piece my thoughts together. I have no clue what he’s talking about. “Huh? Vibrating.”

  “Well, that’s what I said in the middle of the night, so I tried to ask you what it was.”

  Oh no. “I’m a heavy sleeper. Was I snoring?”

  He laughs. “You wish.”

  I’m stumped, and not in a favorable way. “What happened?” Truth be told, I don’t want to know what happened, or what I said for that matter.

  “I said, ‘Hey Julia, what’s vibrating?’ I nudged you a bit, trying to wake you up because I was starting to think I was going nuts.”

  “And?” He’s dragging this story out, and it’s going nowhere good. I know he’s trying to make me feel uncomfortable, and it’s working.

  “You groaned and turned over, clutching your pillow tightly within your arms, but—”

  “Liam,” I groan. “Just get it out.”

  “That’s what she said . . . sorry, sorry, I lost my train of thought.” I sit up and grab my hair elastic from my nightstand, finding . . . no, no, no. “You said, and I quote, ‘It’s just my Shermanator. The switch must have been hit.’” No. Just, no. I can literally feel boiling blood rushing through my cheeks. “So, I was like . . . weird, what the hell is a Shermanator?”

  I clap my hands over my face and fall back down into my pillow. “I don’t need to know the rest,” I mutter through my muffling hands.

  “Obviously, I asked you what a Shermanator was. I tend to be more curious in the middle of the night than at any other time of the day, you know?” He slides out of bed, butt naked, showing off his pride once again. His pride glows like no one else's pride has glowed in front of me before. “You were so cute when you responded with, ‘Oh, he’s my vibrator.’ Then I was like . . . whoa, how creative is she to name her vibrator after a character from American Pie who quoted himself as, ‘A sophisticated sex robot sent back in time to change the future for one lucky lady.’ So, tell me, Julia, do you like to fuck apple pies too?”

  I take my pillow and shove it at him with all my strength, but of course, he catches it midair and gently places it down on the bed. “If you tell anyone, I swear . . .”

  He grins, the evil Grinch type of grin. “You’ll what?”

  “Use the Shermanator on you while you’re sleeping,” I threaten.

  Liam stands straight up, covering his hand over his ass as if my words violated him. “Easy there, I don’t swing that way, sunshine.”

  “Well then, I’d think twice before telling anyone my secret,” I gently threaten.

  “You’re kind of devious, you know that?”

  For s
ome reason, I find this flattering. “Thank you.”

  There’s a knock on the door just as I sit back up to tie my hair into a ponytail. I look at Liam, confused as to why someone would be knocking on my door so early in the morning. “You should probably get it,” he whispers to me as he closes himself into the bathroom.

  I wrap the sheet around my body and bring it to the door, opening it just a crack. It’s Samantha, looking not so hot. “Hey,” I rasp. Memories of last night flood back, and I remember how mortified I should be right now. “Is everything okay?”

  “I drank too much last night,” she groans. That’s a good thing for me.

  “Ew, I’m sorry. That’s never fun in the morning.”

  “No, definitely not. I have to get to work super early today. I meant to tell you yesterday, but I think you were gone before I got home.” She closes her eyes and presses her fingers into her temples. “Um, we’re having a big dinner party tonight, and I was wondering if you could stick around and hang out with Dylan and maybe help Liam out after Dylan goes to bed. I’ll obviously pay you overtime.”

  “Of course,” I tell her. “Anything you need, I’m there.”

  Samantha leans in a little closer, bringing her face awkwardly close to mine. “You smell like Liam.” Her eyes widen at the same moment. “Oh, my God, I totally forgot about last night.” She’s laughing and squeezing her head at the same time. “That was awesome.”

  “Yeah, not awesome being caught like that by your boss—” I tell her.

  “Oh, stop it,” she shoos me off. “Seriously though, I have to know . . . how was it?”

  The wild heat flushes my face once again as I sweep a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. “Holy crap. You’re my boss! We barely know each other!” I tell her.

  “It’s always the quiet ones that are the animals in bed. I knew it,” she says.

  I nod my head, finally giving in to her interrogation and silently agreeing with her comment.

  “Good for you,” she says with a wink. “Oh, when Liam comes out of your bathroom, can you tell him I left a grocery list for him on the kitchen table?”

  I rest my head against the side of the door, completely defeated by all of this. “Sure thing, Samantha.”

  “Call me Sam,” she says. “Does everyone call you Julia or is there a different nickname I should be calling you? I think we crossed a hurdle last night. After that, I think we’re pretty well acquainted with each other, and maybe it’s time to make this a more of a girlfriend type of relationship between us. Does that work for you?” She’s funny. She can’t be more than ten years older than I am, and I’m sure she has no time in her life for friends, so I appreciate her understanding and willingness to be friends with “the help” as Liam so nicely called it yesterday.

  “My friends call me Jules most of the time.”

  “Jules, you got it. Is it okay if I call you that? Thank you again. Tell Liam I said to have a good day.” She pulls her coffee cup out of nowhere and takes a long sip. “See you later.”

  I close the door gently so I don’t wake up Dylan, and Liam walks out of the bathroom at the same time. “What was that all about?”

  “Um, she knows you’re in here, there’s a grocery list on the counter for you, and we both have to work late tonight. Oh, and she wants to be on a nickname basis with me. I think that just about summarizes all of it, except for the extreme embarrassment.”

  “Nickname?” he asks.

  “People call me Jules. Whatever, it’s not a big deal.”

  “You mean, people don’t call you Sherman?”

  My overtired droopy eyes widen into a raging glint. “Don’t you dare,” which obviously means I just dared him to do so. “That falls under the category of asking the Shermanator to invade your pride. Just a little FYI for you. Consider it a warning.”

  “No training for you today, buddy,” I tell Dylan. “Does that make you happy or sad?” I’m always curious about this little guy. Some days he seems to love lifeguard training and other days, he couldn’t care less.

  “Can I play video games?” he asks?

  “Sure, go ahead. I have some stuff to help Liam with for tonight.”

  “Leelee is coming tonight,” he says, smiling shyly.

  Leelee is one of the little girls Jade cares for. I remember hearing her name in passing a few days ago. I guess that means Jade will be here tonight too, which is good since it feels like an eternity since we’ve spoken. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t done much other than work and screw Cleary’s bones out.

  “Are you and Leelee friends?” I ask, curious about his reaction. At ten years old, I can’t remember if I was interested in boys yet, but I feel like the boys were definitely interested in all the girls whose boobs started to develop. Not so sure what the novelty is at that age, but I guess it must be in their DNA.

  Just as I thought, Dylan’s cheeks burn with a red tinge. “Yeah, she’s cool,” he says before running off upstairs to his bedroom. That’s adorable. I should absolutely not tell Jade about this. God knows what she would do to the poor kids.

  As I’m straightening up the living room couch pillows that Dylan tossed around while he was bored, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.

  Dad.

  “Hey, Dad. How are things?”

  “Jelly-Bean, do you know how much it makes my day to hear your voice, not to mention the happiness accompanying it?”

  I laugh because I’m pretty sure no one can hear happiness. “Happiness?”

  “I know when my little girl is happy. Despite the fact that you’re not some big newspaper editor at twenty-two, I’m glad you’re doing something you enjoy this summer. Really, I am.” Doing something I enjoy this summer. Yup. I am doing that, or doing someone I enjoy, to be more specific.

  I sit down on the edge of the couch as I try to decipher the odd inflection in Dad’s voice. “You’re acting weird.”

  “I can’t tell you I’m happy for you?” he asks.

  “Dad . . .”

  “Okay, Gerald won’t let me stay with him.”

  “What, why? I’ll talk to Jade. She’ll get him to change his mind.” Of course she will. What excuse could that cat man possibly have?

  “He’s just not doing well.”

  “What? What does that mean? He was fine the last time I saw him.”

  “I don’t know, sweetie, okay? I’m just telling you what he said, and no, I don’t want you bringing this up to Jade. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted.”

  “You’re best friends with him. I don’t get it.”

  “Okay, you know what? I’m going to figure this out. I just wanted to keep you in the loop.”

  “Well, where are you going to go?”

  “I’ll find a place, okay? I’m a grown man. You don’t have to worry about me.” My heart hurts. I have to figure something out for him.

  “I love you, daddy.” With a sigh on his end and a matching one on mine, we both hang up.

  I slouch into the couch, close my eyes, and try to swallow the knot in my throat.

  “Hey,” Liam says, walking out of the kitchen, shirtless, of course. “Come in here for a minute.” He nods his head back to the kitchen, and I stand up to follow him.

  Once in the kitchen, he pulls out a chair at the table and taps the wooden seat. “Sit.”

  Not being in much of a mood to argue with him or tell him to stop telling me what to do, I take the seat. Silence follows as he grabs the mop from the corner of the kitchen, dunks it into the water bucket, rings it out, and slaps the thick cotton strands down onto the floor, creating a thud and splashing sound.

  I watch him run the mop back and forth a half dozen times, becoming distracted by the flexing of his abs every time he pivots. His skin is merely a thin piece of material slickly moving over the fine-tuned gears in his body. He’s kind of like a gorgeous machine.

  “Did you ask me to come in here so I could watch you mop, shirtless?”

  “Wow, sorry. I didn’t
think you’d be so opposed to the idea.” A slim grin smooths over his lips and even in my state of despair, I want to kiss him again, and again . . . and again. I totally lost my battle with my rulebook, but research—that’s what I’m doing. If it turns out he’s not like the other assholes, even though I already know he’s an asshole, then so be it. If he is the same kind of asshole, he’s just going to get ripped apart in my book someday. I should warn him. Maybe that’d make him think twice before messing with me or my heart.

  “Unless your backside, or your pride, as you call it, is in its full glory, I have no real desire to watch you mop.” As hard as it is to force my mouth into any form of happiness, there’s at least a small twitch to the corner of my lips, but only because I imagined him mopping in the nude.

  “I overheard, your conversation with your pops, and I have an idea.”

  I wasn’t being inconspicuous, and I knew he was in the kitchen, but in the moment, I wasn’t thinking about him overhearing anything. This is killing me, knowing I can’t help the one man who has always done everything in the world to help me. “There’s no way to help him.”

  “Never say never, sunshine.”

  “Liam, I don’t know what your idea is, but he would be mortified to know anyone else even knew what was going on, so please keep that in mind.”

  Liam bends over in front of me, scraping a spot on the tiled floor with the back of his thumbnail. The way his jeans stretch over his ass is just mouthwateringly breathtaking. He totally knows I’m staring, and I’m okay with that. “Give me the day, and let me see what I can do to help your old man, okay?”

  “You won’t tell me what you’re doing?” I ask.

  “Not until I know if it’s possible.”

  I think that’s worth a few points next to his name. He is offering to help me, and it’s more than I could ask of anyone right now. I stand up from the chair, motivated to wrap my arms around him, but as I stand, my feet go out from under me. Shocking . . . so freaking shocking.

  Of course, I had to let out a little shriek on the way down too.

  “Sunshine, the floor is wet,” Liam laments.