Domestic Bliss

Renovations

Brian stood in the doorway of the Baggley house. It was his. The previous owners had accepted a lowball offer and they ran to the bank with it. Brian smiled as he felt arms encircle his waist from behind.

"It's yours," Justin whispered in Brian's ear.

"No, it's not."

"What?"

"It's ours, Sunshine, all ours."

Justin's radiant smile greeted Brian as he turned around and enfolded his partner in an embrace. Brian leaned down and kissed the sweet lips that had come to mean everything to him.

"Are you ready to get started?" Justin asked when the kiss ended.

"I have Nate Shumsky and his crew lined up to start the renovations day after tomorrow. He's going to meet us here in about an hour to see what needs to be done."

"So why are we early?" Justin asked with a grin.

"I seem to remember something about fucking in the art department," Brian said sticking his tongue in his cheek.

"Really? You remember?" Justin pretended to look shocked.

Brian nodded. "Hey, no Old Timers here!" he laughed. Now's as good a time as any."

"Come on," Justin smiled putting his hand in Brian's and leading him to the stairs.

They went up to what had been the master suite in the old house. It was empty of all furniture but that wasn't going to stop them. Brian pushed Justin against the door jamb and hauled his jeans down.

"Is this what you wanted, Sunshine?" he asked as his hands cupped the glorious globes of Justin's ass. They squeezed and then he pushed them apart revealing Justin's twitching pucker.

"Yeah," Justin breathed, his voice already husky. "I want you inside me … NOW!"

"Yes, sir," Brian said derisively. He wasn't sure he liked being bossed around, but in these circumstances he could live with it.

He bit the back of Justin's neck eliciting a groan. His hands clasped around Justin's chest and pulled him back against his body. Justin turned his head and Brian's mouth found his in a smoldering kiss that left them both panting. Quickly Brian unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down over his ass. His hard cock sprang free. He reached in his pocket for the tube of lube and prepared them both. His cock stood at attention waiting to find the velvet warmth that it knew so well.

"God, Brian, what are you doing? I'm so ready," Justin gasped.

"When did you get to be so impatient?"

"Right around the time it took you forever to get started."

Brian frowned and then rammed his dick up Justin's ass without so much as a 'fare thee well'. Justin let out a cry and held onto the door jamb as the pain of the abrupt penetration rolled through him.

Brian waited, immediately regretting his rash action. "You okay?" he whispered in Justin's ear.

"Give me a minute," Justin hissed.

After a little longer Justin leaned back against Brian and pushed his ass against Brian's groin. Brian smiled knowing that everything was all right once again. He didn't know what had possessed him to ram himself into Justin like that. There was definitely something strange about this house and the effect it had on people. He wondered if they'd be able to do their renovations and open the agency … or would the ghost drive them away too? Justin seemed to think they'd be all right, but Brian wasn't so sure. But he didn't believe in ghosts, of course.

"Hey! Where'd you go?" Justin demanded as he moved his hips around to get Brian's attention.

"Um … nowhere, nowhere," Brian muttered as he started thrusting. As the pace increased and sweat began to bead his brow, Brian could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He could swear someone was watching him. He even turned his head and looked behind him at the empty room.

"Brian?" Justin asked. He could feel Brian's lack of concentration on what they were doing. That was very unusual, because Brian was a great lover. He was usually so focused and solicitous in his own hard nosed way. He never left Justin feeling like they hadn't both achieved something great when they made love. But today was definitely different. Brian was distracted. And Justin could feel something too. Something not quite right.

"I'm here," Brian said shaking his head to try to clear the illusion of someone behind him. He began thrusting in earnest deciding that it was time to bring this interlude to its climax. "Ready, Sunshine?"

"Yeah," Justin said as he put aside his worries about the old house and concentrated on what they were doing. He felt Brian lean into him and drive hard, rougher than he normally was. But that was okay. Justin liked it rough sometimes too. "Fuck me," he breathed as he bit his bottom lip and held onto the door jamb with all his might.

Brian's hand snaked around Justin's body and started to pull on his dick. Justin let out a hitched breath followed by a little moan, as he knew he wouldn't last much longer. "Fuck!" he gasped and then he came all over the wood framing of the doorway.

Brian wasn't far behind. He gave a few more thrusts as Justin's ass clenched around him. With a mighty groan he shot his load up his partner's ass and then leaned exhausted against Justin's back.

As Brian's dick softened and slipped out of his partner, Brian felt compelled to look around once more. The room was still empty other than for them. But it didn't feel that way.

Justin groaned as Brian pulled away from him. He knew he was going to be sore. He hoped Nate didn't want to sit down with them and discuss all the possible renovations. He grabbed a tissue out of his jeans pocket and cleaned himself up a bit. He drew his jeans back over his ass and zipped up.

"We should have brought some towels to clean up," Justin said pointing to cum that clung to the door frame. He wiped some of it away with the tissue, but it didn't do a very good job.

"Let's go check in the kitchen," Brian suggested as he adjusted his clothes. "Maybe the last tenants left something we could use … before the ghost chased them away."

Justin looked at Brian. He wasn't sure whether Brian was being sarcastic or trying to be funny or was somewhat scared. Maybe all of the above.

They made their way down to the kitchen. There was a roll of paper towels in one of the cupboards. Someone hadn't bothered to pack it or had left in too big a hurry to worry about them.

"Come on," Justin said. "Let's go clean up our mess."

Brian hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to go back into that room. "You go. I'm going to look around down here."

"Come and help me," Justin wheedled.

"It's your mess."

"You helped me make it."

"It's what bottoms have to deal with," Brian said smugly.

"Asshole."

"That would be me," Brian said turning his back and ignoring Justin.

Justin stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He cursed Brian under his breath. He couldn't believe Brian could be so insensitive sometimes. Other times he was so loving and gentle. He sure hadn't been gentle during that fuck. Justin reached around and rubbed his ass. He didn't think anything had torn, but it had not been pleasant during Brian's entry. He was going to talk to Brian about that as soon as he cleaned up their little mess. And it was theirs … not his.

Justin tore off a sheet of paper towel. He ran it up and down the door jamb collecting the hardening cum. It was sticky and wouldn't all come off. He walked over to the bathroom and ran some water over a new towel. As he walked back to the door, he felt something move the air in the room.

"Brian, are you up here?"

There was no answer. But Justin had definitely felt something move.

"Brian!" he called.

"What?"

"Um … you're still downstairs?"

"I thought I told you I wasn't coming up there, so logically I would still be down here."

"Logically, smogically," Justin muttered shaking his head and wiping off the rest of the cum. "Asshole," he repeated as he finished the job and wiped the wood with a new, dry towel.

He gathered up the used towels and the rest of the roll and headed downstairs. As he started down the steps he glanced at the wall that sealed off the attic. He would have to ask Nate about taking that down. He wanted to see what was up there. Some kind of movement caught his attention and he turned to look back into the master suite. The curtains on the window swung gently. Justin felt himself shiver.

He wondered if there was a broken pane of glass, but for some reason he couldn't make himself go back into the room to check it out. He wasn't afraid. It couldn't be the ghost. It had to be a broken or cracked pane of glass. Yeah, that was it. He'd get Nate to look at it later.

He quickly made his way down to the kitchen. Brian wasn't there. Justin threw the used paper towels in the trash can outside the back door. Someone had left that too. He placed the rest of the roll of towels on the counter and went to look for Brian.

He found him in the library looking out the window.

"What are you doing?"

Brian jumped. "I … do you think we might have made a mistake buying this place?"

Justin frowned and looked into Brian's eyes. "I thought it was a good idea at the time. Did something happen?" Justin asked remembering the moving curtain upstairs.

"I … this is going to sound nuts, but I could have sworn someone was watching us when I fucked you."

"Oh!"

"Oh? Just oh! Didn't you feel it too?"

"Um, no, I didn't, but when I was up there … cleaning up, I could have sworn something was moving around and the curtain was swaying."

"Did you see anything?"

Justin shook his head. He looked thoughtful for a minute. "Did the feeling of having someone watch us affect the way you fucked me?" Justin asked after a few seconds.

"Huh?"

"You don't usually get as rough as you did today."

"I hurt you, didn't I? I shouldn't have done that," Brian said shaking his head.

"I'm okay, but it was like you weren't there half the time and the other half was like you were someone else."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brian asked testily.

"Don't get all defensive on me. You heard me ask you where you went. Something was going on."

"Yeah, I was fucking you," Brian declared. "If you can't handle it…"

"Don't pull that shit with me. You know it was different."

"I don't believe in ghosts," Brian stated.

"You thought it was the ghost that was watching us," Justin said triumphantly.

"I don't believe in ghosts," Brian repeated.

"Come on, Brian. You know something was happening up there."

Brian frowned. "I don't know what was going on, but … I didn't like it."

"Maybe we did make a mistake," Justin said hesitantly.

"Well, now's a fucking great time to tell me," Brian said rubbing his eyes. "I have every penny I own and many that I have yet to earn tied up in this fucking piece of property."

Justin walked over to Brian and put his arms around his waist. "We'll make it work, Brian, I know we will."

Brian shook his head, but he wrapped his arms around Justin and held on tight. There was so much riding on this. They couldn't afford to fail. They each let out a long breath and then Brian leaned down and gently kissed Justin. They held onto each other offering support and strength.

When they broke the kiss, Justin looked around. "I … I feel better now."

"Me too."

"Kiss me again, but gently."

Brian leaned down and kissed his lover. Justin's mouth opened and Brian probed with his tongue leaving them both breathless and semi-hard.

"I just might have to fuck you again," Brian smirked.

"You know I want you any time you say. In fact I want you all the time." They both smiled and looked into each other's eyes. "It feels different in here. Better. More calm and peaceful," Justin said.

Brian nodded and opened his mouth to say something.

"Am I interrupting something," a voice said.

They both jumped and whirled around releasing their hold on each other.

"Nate!" they both said at the same time.

"Sorry I'm a little late, but it doesn't look like you had trouble finding something to occupy yourselves until I got here," Nate laughed.

"Hey, Nate," Justin grinned.

"So, Shumsky, what do you think of the place?" Brian asked not wasting time on pleasantries.

"I love the look of the old place, but I need to look around more before I can really say."

Brian smiled. Maybe Nate could get things shipshape and then they wouldn't have to worry about the "ghost" anymore.

"Have you guys run into the ghost yet?" Nate asked with a laugh. Brian and Justin froze. "I see by the look on your faces that you've had something happen," Nate added without the laugh.

"How did you know about the ghost?" Justin asked.

"Any contractor in this area knows the stories about this house."

"Really? Then why are you taking the job. Everybody else cut and ran," Justin said.

Brian gave him a look. "Justin, I'm sure Nate doesn't believe in ghosts."

"Like you?" Justin demanded with a sideways glance at Brian.

Brian glowered at his partner. "Yeah, like me."

"I don't know if I believe in ghosts or not," Nate said. "But I love this old place. Look at the woodwork. I hope you're going to leave it pretty much as it is," he added hopefully.

Brian stuck his tongue in his cheek. "I was thinking of bleaching it white and then varnishing it, or we could paint it fuchsia."

Nate blanched. "Then I think you have the wrong guy for this job," Nate said his face dropping.

"He's kidding you, Nate," Justin said quickly.

Nate immediately brightened. "Then let's go tour the place and see what you want done."

They spent the next hour going through the rooms and discussing what needed to be worked on. They were pretty much on the same wavelength. They would keep the basic structure of the rooms for now, taking into consideration where future offices might be split off from existing rooms. Whether they would put a restroom on the first floor was a topic of much discussion, but Nate convinced them not to give up the valuable space on the first floor. He would expand the washroom off the master suite and give it a separate entrance for all the employees to use. The smaller bathroom off the other bedrooms would be kept, given a new key and could be mainly for Cynthia's use.

Ted would get the sewing room redone as his office. Cynthia would set up shop in the foyer for now. Nate would build her some cherry cabinets to house the files that would undoubtedly grow quickly under Brian's hand. They would match the existing woodwork as closely as possible. All wallpaper would disappear and Justin said he had a good idea of what color scheme he wanted the place to have. Brian wanted a new more modern door for the entrance and described the type of thing he thought he wanted. Nate said he would be on the lookout for one.

Justin got Nate to look at all the windows only to have the man tell him that they were in surprisingly good condition for their age. They all needed a coat of paint. That cancelled out Justin's theory of why the curtain had been moving. He glanced around the room that would become his art department before they left it. Everything looked fine. Nothing moved including the old curtains.

As they walked back to the stairs, Justin looked at the sealed off entrance to the attic. He had to ask.

"Nate, my mother says the entrance to the attic is behind that wall." Justin pointed to the wall that cut off the ascent of the stairs.

"I wondered if you wanted to do anything about that. It looks pretty ugly the way it is."

"Yeah," Justin agreed. "Would it cost much to open it up?"

"Not much to rip that out, but who knows what's behind it," Nate said thoughtfully.

"I'd like to see," Justin replied.

"What do you think, Brian?" Nate asked.

Brian had remained silent. He wasn't at all sure about opening the entrance to the attic. Who knew what had been hidden up there all this time. Maybe it was best left undisturbed.

"Brian?" Justin asked.

"Um…," Brian said. "I need to think about that."

"What? You said before that it would give us more space."

"Space that we don't need right now."

"But, it's ugly," Justin said gesturing at the offending wall.

"Work out how much it's going to cost with the wall left up," Brian said making a decision. He looked at Justin who shook his head and looked away. Brian sighed. "And make a second one including the cost of taking down the wall and doing something about what this stairwell will look like if we do."

Justin smiled at his partner.

"What about the attic?" Nate asked.

"We're not touching it yet. We have to get the main part of this building ready for business," Brian replied. "How long do you think it will take?"

"I can start day after tomorrow if you decide to go ahead … and if you like my price," Nate smiled. "The work is mostly cosmetic, painting, removing wallpaper, sanding and refinishing with some simple wall construction. Could be done in two weeks."

"Wow!" Justin reacted. "Only two weeks?"

Nate nodded. "I'm not known as the best gay contractor in Pittsburgh for nothing," he laughed.

"I better start rounding up some clients," Brian said.

"And I better get my paint chips organized," Justin contributed.

"Sounds like it's a done deal," Nate said.

"As long as your price isn't astronomical, it is," Brian told Nate. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather have working on this place that you and your little band of fairies." Brian smirked at Nate and Justin.

"Be careful, Kinney. I actually have a straight guy working for me now."

"How did that happen, Shumsky?"

"Not that many fairies seem to want to go into the trades."

They all laughed and then Nate made his way out the front door. Justin hung back.

"Are you coming, Sunshine?" Brian asked as he returned from walking Nate out. "We're done here."

"Are we?"

"What now?" Brian asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Brian, we need to find out what happened in this house all those years ago. I don't think we'll ever have peace here until we know, until the world knows."

"For Christ sakes! When did you become the great expert on ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the fucking night?"

"I'm not, but I … I know we have to find out. I feel it."

"Fuck!" Brian griped. How did he reason with feelings? "What the fuck are we supposed to do to make that happen?"

"That wall has to come down. That will be a start," Justin declared.

"And if I say no?"

"I'll find the money to have it done myself."

"What?"

"You heard me. Mom will lend it to me if I ask."

"Goddam it, Justin! What the fuck's the matter with you?"

"Nothing's the matter with me, Brian. I just really feel that if we want to be at peace in this house and make the business a success, we need to find out what happened to Algernon Blackwell."

"Who the fuck is Algernon Blackwell?"

"He was the Baggley's butler, the man who was murdered."

"Shit!" Brian reacted as he took Justin's hand and led him towards the door. All he wanted to do was get his fucking business going. Who knew it would involve solving a century old murder?

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