The Carpenter’s Dilemma (Family Secrets Book 2)

by Noah Harris

  Those familiar fingers found their way beneath Dean’s shirt, lips breaking away from his long enough for his shirt and then Mikael’s to be shoved up over their heads. Mikael went right back to his chosen task, his hands roaming Dean’s body hungrily. Dean could already tell, as his own hands fought with Mikael’s pants, that they weren’t going to make it to the couch this time. Mikael had come from the truck with a mission in mind, and Dean wasn’t going to deny him in the slightest.

  Mikael’s groan against his lips was music to his ears after he successfully freed the man’s cock from his pants. Another shove, and Dean’s back was pressed once more against the wall with a dull thud of impact. Work roughened fingers shoved past the band of the shorts Dean had pulled on that morning, cupping his ass even as the man claimed his mouth. Every part of him pressed against the larger man, basking in his heat, the roll of his muscles against him, Mikael’s length hard and eager against his body.

  Dean gave a groan of his own, “Mikael, just fuck me already, it’s been too long.”

  “Lube?” Mikael all but gasped out, now rutting against Dean. It wasn’t hard to figure out that this ride was gonna be one he’d definitely be feeling later. Mikael certainly wasn’t opposed to bouncing on Dean when he was in the mood, but it was only now and again that he skipped straight to the grinding and demand for lube. Dean loved it when he was like this, it was like he couldn’t get there fast enough like he needed to be inside.

  “Drawer,” Dean managed to reply, nodding in the general direction of the drawer he meant, his heart beating hard in his chest.

  Mikael grunted, practically dragged Dean over in that direction, then worked to get Dean’s shorts down to his ankles after finding it. Dean managed to kick the shorts away from him before Mikael spun him around, now pressing his chest against the wall. The crack of the bottle opening, followed by the smooth, cool feel of the man’s lubed fingers against his entrance made him shiver.

  One strong hand found his waist, steadying him as Mikael pressed the head of his cock against him. A push and then Mikael was in, a familiar burn marking the entrance. Mikael rocked, seeming to find his patience a little after the first rough push.

  “Hell,” Dean hissed as he felt Mikael sink deeper inside him. It was always a maddening combination of pain and thrill whenever Mikael entered him without any real preparation. Some part of him craved the burn, strong at first, then growing fainter as his body gave into the intrusion. The ache that followed afterward was always a happy reminder of the man buried inside of him, his hips pressing against his ass.

  Then there was always this moment, this moment when Mikael would hold himself still, held completely within Dean, savoring it. Dean always writhed and wriggled when it happened, unable to hold still even as he relished the feel of the man deep in him. The moment was short-lived, however as Mikael’s hips were pulling back to shove back into him.

  The pain flared weakly for a brief moment before the pleasure lit within him. His hands gripped at the molding on the wall, needing something to hold onto. Mikael’s pace began to pick up rapidly, arms wrapped around Dean’s middle as he thrust with more vigor. The burn continued, then Mikael’s thrusts shifted in angle, Dean’s body surging with the sudden burst of pleasure. His strangled noise was all Mikael needed to hear as the man worked that spot, now all but shoving Dean through the wall as he fucked him.

  All Dean could manage was a pitiful moan, finding himself pushing back against the man’s thrusts as best he could while pinned to the wall. Mikael’s mouth searched every spot it could reach as he continued to press against Dean’s body. Dean loved it all, the roll of the man’s muscles, the feel of his lips against his jaw, his teeth on his neck, his fingers pushing against his skin, holding him in place. It was so easy to get lost in the motions and movements when the man was inside of him.

  Another sharp thrust brought a grunt from Dean, “Hell, did you get thicker?”

  Mikael’s response was to shove his hand between Dean’s body and the wall, taking Dean’s cock in his hand as he growled in his ear, “Cum.”

  The command was punctuated by another hard thrust into him, drawing a cry from him. He knew full well he was making a mess of Mikael’s hand as the man pumped his cock. It was impossible to resist the man when he went into full, nearly feral command mode. Dean was only just able to lean back into the man, reaching down to grip onto his moving thighs, and digging in to hold on. It was pretty much impossible for him to keep a hold on himself when Mikael got like this, and Dean never really bothered to try.

  “Mikael,” he managed to gasp, feeling the telltale signs of his orgasm beginning to coil up from within. Once upon a time, he had been the man who insisted that his partner finds his release before he did, on those odd occasions where he’d actually had one anyway. With Mikael it was different, the other man lived for driving Dean to an orgasm first, usually letting it happen after Dean’s muscles had already squeezed down around his cock. Dean also knew full well he also just loved watching Dean losing himself in the moment.

  Dean tried to cry out Mikael’s name as he thrust into him again and again, but only managed an inarticulate sound, spilling onto Mikael’s hand. His body went taut, pushing back against Mikael, the other man’s grip going fierce as he held onto him, thrusts turning wild. He felt the familiar sensation of Mikael’s teeth sinking into the flesh of his neck at the same moment that Mikael unloaded into him. A couple of thrusts was all Mikael could manage before he thrust into him completely and held still, clinging to Dean, barely holding them up as their release swept over them.

  When it was over, they barely managed to stumble their way over to the couch, where they collapsed on opposite ends. Dean had lost track of the number of times they had ended up like this. On opposite ends, but still wrapped around one another in some form or fashion. During their lazy moments, they would lie like this while Dean read and Mikael watched TV or napped. Dean almost never napped, but he wouldn’t deny that he liked watching the other man sleep while wrapped up in Dean’s presence.

  “Missed you, too,” Dean mumbled as he lay there, letting the afterglow wash over him, pressed against the comforting folds of the couch. It was true, too. It had only been a handful of days that Mikael had worked so much they’d barely seen each other, but he had missed the other man quite a bit. He supposed he should be worried about just how much he’d missed his lover, but he couldn’t really summon the energy to care. Mikael, in his own way, was showing how much he had missed Dean as well, keeping a possessive hand on Dean, even as he spoke.

  “It’s been a long week or however long it’s been,” Mikael sighed, his bright eyes resting on Dean’s face, “but the town is all patched up. And by the way, everyone is jealous that you were hardly touched by the storm.”

  “Hey,” Dean protested, “the coop blew over.”

  That made Mikael snort, “Right, and hardly anything happened to your crops, either. People had already noticed that you were having a good growing season, so they were bound to grumble a little that you didn’t take any hits. It’s just jealousy.”

  “Hmph,” Dean pouted a little, “It’s not my fault that the land is fertile, or that the storm decided to give me a break, is it?”

  Mikael chuckled, apparently finding the energy to roll himself around so that he was able to lay across Dean, eyeing him closely. Dean sighed happily beneath the familiar weight of the other man atop him. Just as Mikael pinning him against the wall had aroused him, the man’s weight holding him down into the couch was soothing. Sometimes, he wondered exactly what it was that Mikael got out of this, but it was hard to wonder too much when he saw that bright-eyed expression. Dean might have wondered privately about what he had to offer the other man, but it was hard to doubt too much when someone like Mikael looked at him the way he did.

  “It’s because you’re a new farmer, and college or not, you shouldn’t have fields that are growing like they do. At least not in their eyes. They’re just jealous, and a
little upset because of the damage, that’s all,” Mikael assured him, kissing the tip of his nose.

  The faint irritation that Dean had been feeling melted away under that simple little gesture. It was difficult to be tense around the other man, especially when he had that goofy expression on his face like he couldn’t be more pleased than he was at that exact moment. Dean gave into the smile that wanted to spread across his face, nuzzling the other man’s cheek with his own.

  “I’m just hoping the luck continues into next year,” Dean admitted, “because I want to do way more. If things are this good with the small investment I made, I want to add onto the land and see what I can get out of it. No sense in not turning a little more profit if I can.”

  “Your grandfather seemed to do pretty well with this chunk,” Mikael noted, eyeing Dean curiously.

  “True, but I’m also not Grandpa,” Dean reminded the other man, poking him in the chest.

  “Mm, yeah, you’re definitely cuter than he was, and you look way better shirtless out there the field than he did,” Mikael smirked as he spoke.

  Dean wrinkled his nose, “Ew. Don’t be having weird thoughts about my grandpa, man. Totally ruins the mood.”

  Mikael cocked his head in that way that always made Dean laugh, smirking as he looked up toward the ceiling, “Oh really? So, I guess you wouldn’t be interested in conserving water and showering with me then?”

  Miss the chance to watch the man’s body streaming with water? A chance to freely touch him and appreciate every angle of him as he washed? Or a chance to slide down his slick body, to his knees, and take him into his mouth?

  Fat chance.

  Dean, with surprising strength, heaved to the side and dumped the surprised Mikael onto the floor. Before the larger man could recover from his surprise at the sudden movement, Dean was already up and over the back of the couch, “Last one there gets the tiny towel!”

  “That’s cheating!” Mikael yelled out as he pushed up from the floor, chasing after a laughing Dean as they dashed for the upstairs bathroom.

  chapter

  Four

  It was one of those rare perfect days, warm, but with enough occasional cloud coverage and a breeze to keep it from getting too hot. The fact that he had Mikael at home again, currently napping away on the couch, just made it even better. Even Jax had settled on the couch, snoozing away comfortably in the cooler air. Dean was left to actually enjoy the work outside, soon to wander back into the house and dig them up something for lunch.

  Not so long ago, he would have considered himself about as sentimental as a rock, and equally as romantic. Yet, here he was, smiling over the thought of waking up his other half with some food, watching the sleepy expression on the man’s face as he tried to make sense of the world once more. While Dean was difficult to deal with in the morning, tending to be grumpy and quiet; Mikael came out of sleep without any of his normal playfulness or wicked humor, just a purely innocent look of confusion and a need to cuddle up to something while he tried to comprehend the waking world.

  Somehow in a matter of weeks, Dean had gone from someone who was content to quietly live life alone, to a man whose chest fluttered at the sleepy expression on the face of his partner. Never had he thought that something like this would come along in his life. He had never been much for companionship—outside of a couple of pets—and now he had a man who was living with him, who he couldn’t even imagine not having in his life. He had joked once that perhaps that had something to do with the fact that Mikael had an animal living inside his own body, only realizing later that maybe it wasn’t a total joke.

  Even before his relationship with Mikael had started, an unfamiliar sense of peace had already begun to sink into his life. Finally breaking away from the monotony of his day to day routine had been the first step, and that first attack on the weedy ground of his fields had been the final leap over that hurdle. Everything else seemed to have flown into place with an easy grace. He wasn’t the type to believe too much in fate or destiny, but he had been won over by the ease with which everything had happened in regard to dealing with the land and his new home. It was hard to deny the feeling that he was exactly where he needed to be.

  Mikael had been the real surprise, stunning Dean from the moment he appeared on his doorstep. Everything that followed had kept Dean both wary and wanting even more, keeping him off balance constantly. Somehow, the other man had evaded every pitfall, trap, and wall that Dean had ever unconsciously put up against other people. Somehow this man—this wolf—had somehow plopped his way into Dean’s heart and life.

  The scariest thing for Dean was how quickly and easily it had happened. Beyond the love of family, he wasn’t experienced in that particularly tricky emotion. Yet, deep down, he knew that if he wasn’t already completely in love with Mikael, he would be very soon. Dean had been with men who had a wicked sense of humor and an easy way about them like Mikael did, but it hadn’t been the same at all. Underneath all of that brightness and quick humor, there lay a core of solid earth and strength in the man’s soul. It was all too easy for Dean to be lulled by the brightness of the man’s demeanor, and feel supported by that quiet inner strength.

  His thoughts drew him away from his work eventually, too distracted by the idea of going into the house and being with Mikael. It wasn’t as if taking his lunch break early would really hinder whatever progress he was making. It was probably better for him to stick to his work and have his fun later, but he had never been very good about controlling himself when it came to Mikael. All sense of responsibility and hard work tended to melt in the face of being able to see and touch the other man. He supposed one day, he would have to work on that, to make sure that the other parts of his life didn’t suffer. But it didn’t have to be today.

  Movement caught his attention as he climbed the porch stairs leading into the house. Turning, he spotted something in the trees near the farmhouse. The movement was lower to the ground than a person would be, but the low growing plants covered whatever it was. For the briefest of moments, his residual fear from the night that one of Mikael’s cousins had attacked him leapt to the forefront of his mind, as did the memory of the nightmares that had plagued him ever since. The rest of him knew that it was very possible, and the height of the movement in the brush certainly gave credit to the idea. With a shake of his head he brushed it off as an overreaction.

  That is until two different wolves appeared from the foliage, instead of the lumbering beast that had emerged the night he was attacked. Dean turned toward them, holding his work gloves limply in his hands as he waited. Both wolves were about the same height, though one was slighter, and graceful in contrast to the strength and bulk of the other. The slighter wolf was light colored, a blending of light brown and almost golden coloring on its sleek fur. The other was darker, a slate gray, but still wore a lustrous and healthy-looking coat.

  They stopped before him and he noticed, almost immediately, the strangest thing about them. Both had two different colored eyes, startlingly different. The lighter colored wolf bore a dark blue colored eye on its right side, and a bright green eye on its left. The gray wolf had the same two colors, but reversed. Sitting before him as they did, their bright green eyes that were side by side, almost gave the illusion of a third wolf between them.

  It took a moment, but he finally found the use of his voice, “I-I’m guessing you’re looking for Mikael?”

  The gray wolf merely eyed him with an expression that Dean was hard pressed to figure out. The lighter wolf however, cocked its head ever so slightly at him, making a soft noise before looking to its companion. It was then that Dean noticed the bag slung over the bulkier gray wolf’s back, lumpy in shape from whatever was in it.

  Recognition clicked home, “Ah. Uh, yeah, I’ll go and get him while you guys . . . change back and get into some clothes . . . you want to use my bathroom or something?”

  The gray one snorted at him, which he took to be a ‘no’, “Okay, but please just
. . . do it in the woods or something. It’s not easy to see up here from the road, but I don’t want someone to see you two going from fur to skin. They’re already looking at me weird as it is.”

  With what sounded like a pleased yip, the light colored wolf turned and headed back to the woods. The gray one lingered a moment before finally turning to go back to the cover of the trees. Dean blinked, breathing deeply before backing up to go into the house. Both Dean and Mikael had known that this day would come eventually. Someone from The Grove was bound to show up at some point or another, and apparently it was going to be today. It had been fun to deny that reality for a little while, especially while everything was perfect and dreamlike between them anyway.

  He woke Mikael, telling him about the wolves the moment his eyes came open. Dean wasn’t surprised to see the man instantly come alert. Sadness overtook Dean, pulling at his heart when he saw the emotion flash across Mikael’s face. Any trace of humor or lightheartedness was gone in those few words, replaced by a taut expression drawing across his features. Dean didn’t need to read Mikael’s mind to know that he hadn’t been the only one apprehensively waiting for this day to come.

  Dean was first out of the house, despite Mikael’s quiet protest that he should lead. Dean couldn’t explain it, but it felt right that he be the one to walked out first and greet these guests—admittedly unwelcome, but guests just the same. This was in part due to the politeness that had been drilled into him from a young age, a politeness that he had been both sword and shield while he maneuvered through the world. Another quieter, but no less potent motivation, was that a part of him that wanted to greet these strangers who had come to his land. This was his place, his home, and he would be damned if Mikael was the one who laid eyes upon them first, his familial connections be damned.