The Time Traveler's Lover : Love Fest Happy Ending Part 1
Inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
The characters belong to Annie Proulx.
This is an alternative, happy ending to my original fic, written for the Love Fest of Feb/March 2008. Features a bit of voyeurism, biting and a J/E/J threesome. If you haven't read the story, which weaves in and out of canon, you only need to read the last, very short chapter to be able to follow this. That chapter is here. Master list of all chapters here.
PART 1
June 21, 1984
Ennis recognized the place as soon as he reached the top of the slope and looked down. He paced off the distance to the exact spot where he’d seen Jack reclining that afternoon. He set the coffee can down and lowered himself onto the grass. The small round sheep pellets were hard and white and the grass uncropped, so no flock had moved over this pasture since the previous summer.
This was the third station of his pilgrimage; he hadn't decided which one would be Jack's resting place. The coffee can had arrived in a package addressed to him at General Delivery three days after Junior's wedding. The note was held in place by a rubber band stretched around the can and it said simply "Please do what my son asked." He'd shaken it once, heard the sift and rattle, and had known immediately what it contained. She'd poured them directly inside, no plastic bag. He had pulled back the white plastic lid only one time, glancing at the gray powder.
Now he forced himself to think about the words he'd uttered here long ago and tried out alternatives in his mind. It was a pointless exercise, he knew. If he'd been capable of saying anything else then, he would have. It had been overcast that day; this afternoon was clear and bright and the sun made him squint. He rested his arms on his knees and gazed at the empty meadow, trying to will his mind to similar blankness.
Out of the corner of his eye he was suddenly aware of a flash of something white on the ground near him. In the half second between registering it and turning his head to look, he thought of a dove. But he saw two bare feet crossed at the ankles. As naturally as a wave unfurls toward the shore his gaze flowed down the naked limbs and torso and rushed to meet blue eyes. His heart seemed to surge upward and he let out a strangled cry. Jack's eyes widened in alarm and he drew back.
"Ennis! I..I can explain..." he stuttered.
But Ennis didn't wait for his explanation - he lunged at Jack and crashed into him, shoving him back to the ground. "Jack... Jack... Jack..." He pressed his face to Jack's, covered his body with his own, feeling the warmth of him, full of life.
"Know bout you, what you can do. Y'came to me a few times this spring. You were just a baby," he whispered.
Jack gripped Ennis' head and pushed it back to look at him. With his thumbs he stroked the crow's feet at the corners of this eyes. "Ennis, you're... What year's this?"
"Eighty four." Ennis stared down at Jack. He was young and unlined. Jack continued to search his face.
"Why'd you hit me?" he said finally, his voice breaking.
Ennis knew exactly what he meant. He pushed his head so that it slid through Jack's hands and he brought their cheeks together. "I'll tell you someday," he whispered. "I'm sorry." He kissed Jack, and in seconds they were rolling across the slope, limbs entwined. Jack was underneath Ennis when he yelped in pain and lifted a shoulder. He'd landed on the edge of the coffee can and it had skittered away, the lid popping off. Ennis could see fine dust spilling out.
Jack eyed the blue and white lettering and gave a little laugh. "That's Ma's brand. She was just makin a pot to - what is it, Ennis?"
Ennis had gone still and pulled back slightly. He put his hand to Jack's face and tilted it towards him, away from the can. "When're you comin from, Jack?" he whispered urgently.
Jack looked into his eyes, his face serious. "President Kennedy was killed this mornin."
Ennis stared down at Jack's face for a long moment, remembering. Then he gripped Jack's chin and for the first time in his life his words rushed out in a torrent.
"Jack, listen to me. Day after tomorrow I get married. In Riverton. I'm livin in a house on the Pine Bow ranch offa Seventeen Mile Road. Look for a big burnt oak at the turnoff to a gravel road. Place is at the end. Go there tonight before ten, no later. Door's unlocked, just go in. Here's what you gotta say to me and what you gotta do." He lowered his face to Jack's and whispered in his ear what he'd been thinking of on the bed that night, before Alma'd knocked at his door. When he'd finished Ennis pulled back to see Jack all wide eyes and grinning. Jack pulled Ennis' head down to kiss him but Ennis' nose smacked the ground instead. Jack was gone.
Ennis raised himself up on his elbows and looked at the coffee can lying on its side a few feet away. Suddenly a realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. His girls! If he didn't marry Alma, he wouldn't have Junior and Jenny! He scrambled to his feet and like a madman began to whirl in a circle, his hands over his ears, howling to the sky. "NO JACK NOOOO!" He ran at the can and kicked it in a rage. Gray ash flew out, some of the dust swirling away in the breeze. He sank to his knees and doubled over, keening into his hands.
November 22, 1963
When his truck's headlights picked out the leafless, charred oak that marked the turnoff to Ennis' house, Jack yanked the wheel to the right, skidding in the gravel. It had taken him all day to get to Riverton in this cunt truck and it was now ten minutes to ten. He pulled up outside the house, noting a feeble glow escaping from a side window, then leaped out and bounded up the wooden steps to the porch. He tried the knob and the door swung inwards. Through the spartan kitchen he could see an open door and beyond it, an unmade double bed. Ennis lay on his back with his jeans open and his fist shuttling slowly up and down his cock. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open, his jaw working as though he were repeating one word over and over. Jack quietly toed off his boots while he watched him and then unfastened his belt. He padded forward into the kitchen where he shucked off his jeans and undid the snaps of his shirt carefully, muffling the sound. Moving into the doorway, he took himself in hand and began stroking at the same pace, running his gaze over Ennis' bare chest and thrusting hips. He could hear Ennis now: Jack....Jack...Jack... Jack...
Jack advanced slowly toward the bed, breathing deeply through his nose, drinking in the sight. Ennis was lost in his own waking dream and didn't open his eyes as Jack bent down, bringing his face close to his. Jack pressed his mouth onto Ennis'. At the same time he glided his free hand inside Ennis' jeans and cupped his heavy balls.
"Mmmpphh!" Ennis' eyes flew open and he stared wildly into Jack's. His left hand flailed to the side and brushed against Jack's cock and pistoning hand. Jack straightened up, then quickly lifted his right knee onto the mattress, swung his left leg over and straddled Ennis' thighs. He let go of himself and with both hands seized Ennis' face, leaned over and plunged his tongue into his mouth. Ennis moaned so loudly Jack felt the vibrations right down into his chest.
Jack pulled back slightly and breathed "Yeah it's me, Ennis, ridin to yer rescue."
"I don't need no..." Ennis began but Jack cut him off quick.
"What is this, you havin a stag party all on yer lonesome? Thinkin bout what you'll be missin after you marry that gal?"
Jack pressed his stubbled cheek to Ennis' and rasped slowly across it. He leaned forward, sliding his legs down the sides of Ennis' thighs and lowered his chest onto his. Then he brought his lips next to Ennis' ear and whispered,"You ready to go the rest a yer life without this?" and ground his cock into Ennis', smiling when he heard him gasp. Then he swirled his tongue in his ear and continued licking down Ennis' neck and around to the base of his throat, kissing and sucking down his chest to his belly. Ennis' fingers gripped Jack's hair as he writhed and moaned. Jack shoved Ennis' jeans clear of his thighs, leaving them bunched around his ankles, before turning his attention to the thick, curving cock dripping onto Ennis' stomach.
Jack flicked his tongue up and down the shaft and kissed the head. "Oh shit Jack! Up here... I wanna see you!" Ennis gasped out, fisting Jack's hair and tugging him forward. Jack sat up and Ennis let his hands drop to his hips, smoothing them over his flanks while he devoured his body with his eyes. Spotting an open jar of Vaseline on the bedside table, Jack reached over and dipped his fingers into the gel. Then he reached down to grasp Ennis' fingers and dragged them back to his crack, slicking them up as he did so.
"Go on, Ennis," he said low, staring into his eyes. "Yer last chance before you give it all up. You really gonna quit thinkin on me once you start fuckin yer wife?" A tiny sound in the kitchen made him turn his head in that direction. Framed in the front door, a woman's pale, round face reflected the glow from the bedroom lamp. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stared at the men. Jack suppressed a gasp and looked back at Ennis. He shifted forward an inch and with one hand urged Ennis' fingers toward his hole and with the other reached for Ennis' hand and brought them together to encircle both their shafts.
Jack waited for a gasp or a scream or the sound of the front door slamming but there was only silence. He turned his head just slightly and shifted his eyes, taking in the woman's face. She was still watching them, transfixed. He returned his gaze to the man under him and began shuttling their joined hands up and down, the precum dribbling over their linked fingers.
"C'mon cowboy, let's ride" Jack growled, and shifted forward and up to settle himself above Ennis' cock. Then he slowly inched down as a moan was torn from Ennis' throat. "Who d'ya really want, Ennis?" he demanded loudly as he slowly sank all the way down onto him and then pulled up. "Just try an tell me... that yer gonna forget this." Down and up. Ennis' eyes were screwed shut as he whimpered and clutched at Jack's hip with one hand; the other hand was caught in Jack's grip, suspended between their bodies, their fingers interlaced. Down up, down up. The woman hadn't moved - Jack could still sense her face in his peripheral vision. Damn, was she gonna watch till the end? He turned his head and looked directly at her. She didn't seem to notice; her gaze was concentrated on their strike zones. He couldn't imagine her eyes getting any wider or her mouth any slacker. As he picked up the pace, rising and falling steadily, he exaggerated the rocking of his hips for her benefit. She was no longer standing rigidly straight but sagging against the door frame. He looked back at Ennis, who'd opened his eyes and had started to follow the trajectory of Jack's gaze.
"Don't look away from me!" he commanded. "Tell me you don't want me all the time, Ennis. Say it if you can," Jack hissed. Ennis thrust up in time with Jack's rocking, moaning his name over and over just as he'd been doing alone on the bed, his eyes fixed on Jack's.
Jack sped up the rhythm as he took hold of Ennis' other hand and leaned forward, letting Ennis support his weight. That angle was better and he felt the head of Ennis' cock hit the spot that sent tongues of fire into his own. "Yeah Ennis, yeah Ennis, just like that," he crooned. Ennis was panting now as he bucked his hips, thrusting frantically, his vise-like grip on Jack's hands whitening his knuckles.
"You ever fucked a girl, Ennis? Well it ain't nothin like this." Jack clenched his ass muscles and Ennis' eyes opened wide, his throat emitting high-pitched whines. "You really wanna find out or just take my word for it? Cause if you go... to that church on Sunday... you ain't never gonna see me again… but I can guarantee... you will never forget me," he ground out. "Will you? Will you?" The pale moon in the doorway slid into darkness just as just as Ennis arched his neck and shouted his ecstasy and his answer: "Nooooooo!" Jack sank onto him and their moans blended together as he spurted out over both of them. When he heard the sound of an engine starting up he quickly released Ennis' hands so he could cup his own over Ennis' ears. He leaned down and whispered into one of them, "You are mine, Ennis Del Mar, an I ain't gonna let you outta my sight!"
June 21, 1984
When Ennis opened his eyes he was lying on his side in the grass, curled in a ball. He smelled coffee but he wasn't in the camp site. He stretched his legs and sat up groggily. The sun was lower in the sky but not yet touching the peaks. It was the longest day of the year, the one they'd chosen as their anniversary, which they always spent here. Twenty one years now since the day Jack had made him laugh. Ennis always came up to this spot, sometimes with Jack. When they were together, they riffed on their old lines.
"This is a one-shot deal we got goin on here."
"Yeah? Well I felt that gun a yours go off plenty a times."
"You know I ain't queer."
" Riiiight. You bet. How bout I give you the business right here?"
"Jesus, Jack, I swear!"
This time Ennis had felt like coming alone. But he couldn't remember falling asleep. As he got up, he spotted the blue and white Maxwell House can lying on its side further up the slope, the plastic lid a few feet away. Ground coffee was spilled all around. He frowned; how'd it get up here? He walked uphill and picked up the dented can. There was a little bit of coffee left inside, not enough for a pot, so he carefully scooped up some of the grounds from a little mound in the grass, just enough for the next morning.
He continued up the hill to where Caffeine was tethered. It was awkward to mount while holding the can and it bothered him that he couldn't remember carrying it up there. Well, another funny story to tell Junior and Jenny about their silly uncle. When they got back, KE would be bringing them up to Lightening Flat to stay for two weeks while he and Alma took a vacation. They didn't stay as long now that they were older, which was a pity because he loved having them around.
As he rode back down to the camp site, his thoughts drifted to their other, real anniversary, which they only celebrated with an exchange of looks whenever the JFK assassination was commemorated. He still didn't know exactly how Jack had found out where he was living. The next morning when KE had shown up with Alma's letter and his ring, Ennis' brother had taken his stunned silence for devastation and thrown his arm around his shoulder, telling him it was better this way. Wouldn't want to get married with doubts on one side and then have it all go to hell in six months, take his word for it. Ennis had learned KE's wife had run off when he got down from Brokeback. She'd introduced Alma to Ennis so Alma'd felt extra sorry for KE, doting on him in Ennis' absence. He was still amazed how it all had worked out so perfectly. He and Jack lit out for Lightning Flat as soon as KE left, and Jack's old man dropped dead of a heart attack as soon as Jack told him Ennis was staying. KE and Alma got married in the spring of '64 and had two little girls whom Ennis adored and who spent summers on the ranch. Everything had come to his hand the right way in the end, as Jack put it.
He could smell smoke as he got near the camp site, so he knew Jack was back from his own meanderings. Sure enough, Jack was fussing with the fire when he entered the clearing. Ennis was greeted with a beaming smile which he returned in his usual, lower-wattage manner. He saw Jack noticing the coffee can and watched his eyebrows knit together.
"Whydja bring the coffee up there with ya?" Jack was staring fixedly at it as Ennis dismounted.
"Dunno. Don't even remember carryin it. Fell asleep in the grass and when I woke up, there it was, coffee all spilled out."
Jack moved up next to Ennis just as he was about to unbuckle the cinches to relieve Caffeine of her saddle. He laid his hand on Ennis' arm and pulled him away from his task, turning him gently to face him, drawing him close. Ennis could tell from his serious expression that Jack was recalling something, and he wondered if this coffee had something to do with one of Jack's trips.
Jack leaned in to kiss him, but Ennis got there first. They stood locked in a clinch for a full minute, lips and tongues sliding and sucking, hands stroking over and underneath clothing, groins rubbing, until Jack pulled back with some effort.
"Good, got you all riled up now and ready for your visitor," he whispered, grinning, and nodded toward the tent.
Ennis rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Dammit Twist, don't you ever believe me when I say one's enough?"
"Heh heh heh. You remember when you threw me that little surprise party for my 23rd birthday and I showed up two hours late? Well, guess where I was?"
"How d'you know that's when he's...I mean, when you're comin from?" Ennis kept his voice low as well.
"Cause I remember hearin us talk about the coffee can that time. Anyway, you go on in and see your boyfriend. I'm gonna ride down to the trailhead and fix the flat tire on the truck so we can get away early tomorrow mornin." Jack winked before turning away and swinging up into the still-warm saddle.
At the entrance to the tent, Ennis removed his hat and stooped to enter. There was Jack, stretched out naked on his back on top of the their sleeping bags, hands behind his head. He'd had some memorable encounters with a visiting Jack but this was the biggest age difference they'd had between them so far. That he knew of, anyway. Ennis went down on one knee and let his gaze sweep over his body while Jack just grinned at him.
"Happy anniversary. Still lookin good, Cowboy," Jack purred.
"Yeah, you sure are," Ennis breathed, tossing his hat into the corner. He lay down on his side facing Jack, his head propped on his hand.
"I meant you, Ennis." Jack rolled onto his side in turn and smoothed his hand along Ennis' cheek and jaw. "Lookin better than..." He rubbed his thumb along the side of the older man's eye.
"Better 'n who?"
"Better 'n anybody." Jack's fingers were now nimbly unsnapping the buttons on Ennis' shirt. "What are you now, thirty-five?"
Ennis smiled and brushed his fingers along Jack's arm and up his bicep. "Huh. Long past that."
"Damn, this tent's holdin up real well then. We just got it last year." Jack pulled Ennis' shirt out of his jeans and began working at his belt buckle. "And this double air mattress - can't wait for them to come out."
Ennis was exploring with his fingertips a fresh scar on Jack's shoulder. "You'll be glad to know this healed up good. Was some kick that mare gave you."
"Ennis?" Jack had fiddled open the button and was now tugging on the zipper.
"What?"
"Nice a you to worry about my injuries, but yer goin in the wrong direction."
"Oh. This better?"
"Uh huh. Ahh... that's new...yeah... keep doin that."
"Dumbass, you taught me that."
"I did? I will? uuuhh... well... now I know... where... I learned it...!
Read Part 2
The characters belong to Annie Proulx.
This is an alternative, happy ending to my original fic, written for the Love Fest of Feb/March 2008. Features a bit of voyeurism, biting and a J/E/J threesome. If you haven't read the story, which weaves in and out of canon, you only need to read the last, very short chapter to be able to follow this. That chapter is here. Master list of all chapters here.
PART 1
June 21, 1984
Ennis recognized the place as soon as he reached the top of the slope and looked down. He paced off the distance to the exact spot where he’d seen Jack reclining that afternoon. He set the coffee can down and lowered himself onto the grass. The small round sheep pellets were hard and white and the grass uncropped, so no flock had moved over this pasture since the previous summer.
This was the third station of his pilgrimage; he hadn't decided which one would be Jack's resting place. The coffee can had arrived in a package addressed to him at General Delivery three days after Junior's wedding. The note was held in place by a rubber band stretched around the can and it said simply "Please do what my son asked." He'd shaken it once, heard the sift and rattle, and had known immediately what it contained. She'd poured them directly inside, no plastic bag. He had pulled back the white plastic lid only one time, glancing at the gray powder.
Now he forced himself to think about the words he'd uttered here long ago and tried out alternatives in his mind. It was a pointless exercise, he knew. If he'd been capable of saying anything else then, he would have. It had been overcast that day; this afternoon was clear and bright and the sun made him squint. He rested his arms on his knees and gazed at the empty meadow, trying to will his mind to similar blankness.
Out of the corner of his eye he was suddenly aware of a flash of something white on the ground near him. In the half second between registering it and turning his head to look, he thought of a dove. But he saw two bare feet crossed at the ankles. As naturally as a wave unfurls toward the shore his gaze flowed down the naked limbs and torso and rushed to meet blue eyes. His heart seemed to surge upward and he let out a strangled cry. Jack's eyes widened in alarm and he drew back.
"Ennis! I..I can explain..." he stuttered.
But Ennis didn't wait for his explanation - he lunged at Jack and crashed into him, shoving him back to the ground. "Jack... Jack... Jack..." He pressed his face to Jack's, covered his body with his own, feeling the warmth of him, full of life.
"Know bout you, what you can do. Y'came to me a few times this spring. You were just a baby," he whispered.
Jack gripped Ennis' head and pushed it back to look at him. With his thumbs he stroked the crow's feet at the corners of this eyes. "Ennis, you're... What year's this?"
"Eighty four." Ennis stared down at Jack. He was young and unlined. Jack continued to search his face.
"Why'd you hit me?" he said finally, his voice breaking.
Ennis knew exactly what he meant. He pushed his head so that it slid through Jack's hands and he brought their cheeks together. "I'll tell you someday," he whispered. "I'm sorry." He kissed Jack, and in seconds they were rolling across the slope, limbs entwined. Jack was underneath Ennis when he yelped in pain and lifted a shoulder. He'd landed on the edge of the coffee can and it had skittered away, the lid popping off. Ennis could see fine dust spilling out.
Jack eyed the blue and white lettering and gave a little laugh. "That's Ma's brand. She was just makin a pot to - what is it, Ennis?"
Ennis had gone still and pulled back slightly. He put his hand to Jack's face and tilted it towards him, away from the can. "When're you comin from, Jack?" he whispered urgently.
Jack looked into his eyes, his face serious. "President Kennedy was killed this mornin."
Ennis stared down at Jack's face for a long moment, remembering. Then he gripped Jack's chin and for the first time in his life his words rushed out in a torrent.
"Jack, listen to me. Day after tomorrow I get married. In Riverton. I'm livin in a house on the Pine Bow ranch offa Seventeen Mile Road. Look for a big burnt oak at the turnoff to a gravel road. Place is at the end. Go there tonight before ten, no later. Door's unlocked, just go in. Here's what you gotta say to me and what you gotta do." He lowered his face to Jack's and whispered in his ear what he'd been thinking of on the bed that night, before Alma'd knocked at his door. When he'd finished Ennis pulled back to see Jack all wide eyes and grinning. Jack pulled Ennis' head down to kiss him but Ennis' nose smacked the ground instead. Jack was gone.
Ennis raised himself up on his elbows and looked at the coffee can lying on its side a few feet away. Suddenly a realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. His girls! If he didn't marry Alma, he wouldn't have Junior and Jenny! He scrambled to his feet and like a madman began to whirl in a circle, his hands over his ears, howling to the sky. "NO JACK NOOOO!" He ran at the can and kicked it in a rage. Gray ash flew out, some of the dust swirling away in the breeze. He sank to his knees and doubled over, keening into his hands.
November 22, 1963
When his truck's headlights picked out the leafless, charred oak that marked the turnoff to Ennis' house, Jack yanked the wheel to the right, skidding in the gravel. It had taken him all day to get to Riverton in this cunt truck and it was now ten minutes to ten. He pulled up outside the house, noting a feeble glow escaping from a side window, then leaped out and bounded up the wooden steps to the porch. He tried the knob and the door swung inwards. Through the spartan kitchen he could see an open door and beyond it, an unmade double bed. Ennis lay on his back with his jeans open and his fist shuttling slowly up and down his cock. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open, his jaw working as though he were repeating one word over and over. Jack quietly toed off his boots while he watched him and then unfastened his belt. He padded forward into the kitchen where he shucked off his jeans and undid the snaps of his shirt carefully, muffling the sound. Moving into the doorway, he took himself in hand and began stroking at the same pace, running his gaze over Ennis' bare chest and thrusting hips. He could hear Ennis now: Jack....Jack...Jack... Jack...
Jack advanced slowly toward the bed, breathing deeply through his nose, drinking in the sight. Ennis was lost in his own waking dream and didn't open his eyes as Jack bent down, bringing his face close to his. Jack pressed his mouth onto Ennis'. At the same time he glided his free hand inside Ennis' jeans and cupped his heavy balls.
"Mmmpphh!" Ennis' eyes flew open and he stared wildly into Jack's. His left hand flailed to the side and brushed against Jack's cock and pistoning hand. Jack straightened up, then quickly lifted his right knee onto the mattress, swung his left leg over and straddled Ennis' thighs. He let go of himself and with both hands seized Ennis' face, leaned over and plunged his tongue into his mouth. Ennis moaned so loudly Jack felt the vibrations right down into his chest.
Jack pulled back slightly and breathed "Yeah it's me, Ennis, ridin to yer rescue."
"I don't need no..." Ennis began but Jack cut him off quick.
"What is this, you havin a stag party all on yer lonesome? Thinkin bout what you'll be missin after you marry that gal?"
Jack pressed his stubbled cheek to Ennis' and rasped slowly across it. He leaned forward, sliding his legs down the sides of Ennis' thighs and lowered his chest onto his. Then he brought his lips next to Ennis' ear and whispered,"You ready to go the rest a yer life without this?" and ground his cock into Ennis', smiling when he heard him gasp. Then he swirled his tongue in his ear and continued licking down Ennis' neck and around to the base of his throat, kissing and sucking down his chest to his belly. Ennis' fingers gripped Jack's hair as he writhed and moaned. Jack shoved Ennis' jeans clear of his thighs, leaving them bunched around his ankles, before turning his attention to the thick, curving cock dripping onto Ennis' stomach.
Jack flicked his tongue up and down the shaft and kissed the head. "Oh shit Jack! Up here... I wanna see you!" Ennis gasped out, fisting Jack's hair and tugging him forward. Jack sat up and Ennis let his hands drop to his hips, smoothing them over his flanks while he devoured his body with his eyes. Spotting an open jar of Vaseline on the bedside table, Jack reached over and dipped his fingers into the gel. Then he reached down to grasp Ennis' fingers and dragged them back to his crack, slicking them up as he did so.
"Go on, Ennis," he said low, staring into his eyes. "Yer last chance before you give it all up. You really gonna quit thinkin on me once you start fuckin yer wife?" A tiny sound in the kitchen made him turn his head in that direction. Framed in the front door, a woman's pale, round face reflected the glow from the bedroom lamp. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stared at the men. Jack suppressed a gasp and looked back at Ennis. He shifted forward an inch and with one hand urged Ennis' fingers toward his hole and with the other reached for Ennis' hand and brought them together to encircle both their shafts.
Jack waited for a gasp or a scream or the sound of the front door slamming but there was only silence. He turned his head just slightly and shifted his eyes, taking in the woman's face. She was still watching them, transfixed. He returned his gaze to the man under him and began shuttling their joined hands up and down, the precum dribbling over their linked fingers.
"C'mon cowboy, let's ride" Jack growled, and shifted forward and up to settle himself above Ennis' cock. Then he slowly inched down as a moan was torn from Ennis' throat. "Who d'ya really want, Ennis?" he demanded loudly as he slowly sank all the way down onto him and then pulled up. "Just try an tell me... that yer gonna forget this." Down and up. Ennis' eyes were screwed shut as he whimpered and clutched at Jack's hip with one hand; the other hand was caught in Jack's grip, suspended between their bodies, their fingers interlaced. Down up, down up. The woman hadn't moved - Jack could still sense her face in his peripheral vision. Damn, was she gonna watch till the end? He turned his head and looked directly at her. She didn't seem to notice; her gaze was concentrated on their strike zones. He couldn't imagine her eyes getting any wider or her mouth any slacker. As he picked up the pace, rising and falling steadily, he exaggerated the rocking of his hips for her benefit. She was no longer standing rigidly straight but sagging against the door frame. He looked back at Ennis, who'd opened his eyes and had started to follow the trajectory of Jack's gaze.
"Don't look away from me!" he commanded. "Tell me you don't want me all the time, Ennis. Say it if you can," Jack hissed. Ennis thrust up in time with Jack's rocking, moaning his name over and over just as he'd been doing alone on the bed, his eyes fixed on Jack's.
Jack sped up the rhythm as he took hold of Ennis' other hand and leaned forward, letting Ennis support his weight. That angle was better and he felt the head of Ennis' cock hit the spot that sent tongues of fire into his own. "Yeah Ennis, yeah Ennis, just like that," he crooned. Ennis was panting now as he bucked his hips, thrusting frantically, his vise-like grip on Jack's hands whitening his knuckles.
"You ever fucked a girl, Ennis? Well it ain't nothin like this." Jack clenched his ass muscles and Ennis' eyes opened wide, his throat emitting high-pitched whines. "You really wanna find out or just take my word for it? Cause if you go... to that church on Sunday... you ain't never gonna see me again… but I can guarantee... you will never forget me," he ground out. "Will you? Will you?" The pale moon in the doorway slid into darkness just as just as Ennis arched his neck and shouted his ecstasy and his answer: "Nooooooo!" Jack sank onto him and their moans blended together as he spurted out over both of them. When he heard the sound of an engine starting up he quickly released Ennis' hands so he could cup his own over Ennis' ears. He leaned down and whispered into one of them, "You are mine, Ennis Del Mar, an I ain't gonna let you outta my sight!"
June 21, 1984
When Ennis opened his eyes he was lying on his side in the grass, curled in a ball. He smelled coffee but he wasn't in the camp site. He stretched his legs and sat up groggily. The sun was lower in the sky but not yet touching the peaks. It was the longest day of the year, the one they'd chosen as their anniversary, which they always spent here. Twenty one years now since the day Jack had made him laugh. Ennis always came up to this spot, sometimes with Jack. When they were together, they riffed on their old lines.
"This is a one-shot deal we got goin on here."
"Yeah? Well I felt that gun a yours go off plenty a times."
"You know I ain't queer."
" Riiiight. You bet. How bout I give you the business right here?"
"Jesus, Jack, I swear!"
This time Ennis had felt like coming alone. But he couldn't remember falling asleep. As he got up, he spotted the blue and white Maxwell House can lying on its side further up the slope, the plastic lid a few feet away. Ground coffee was spilled all around. He frowned; how'd it get up here? He walked uphill and picked up the dented can. There was a little bit of coffee left inside, not enough for a pot, so he carefully scooped up some of the grounds from a little mound in the grass, just enough for the next morning.
He continued up the hill to where Caffeine was tethered. It was awkward to mount while holding the can and it bothered him that he couldn't remember carrying it up there. Well, another funny story to tell Junior and Jenny about their silly uncle. When they got back, KE would be bringing them up to Lightening Flat to stay for two weeks while he and Alma took a vacation. They didn't stay as long now that they were older, which was a pity because he loved having them around.
As he rode back down to the camp site, his thoughts drifted to their other, real anniversary, which they only celebrated with an exchange of looks whenever the JFK assassination was commemorated. He still didn't know exactly how Jack had found out where he was living. The next morning when KE had shown up with Alma's letter and his ring, Ennis' brother had taken his stunned silence for devastation and thrown his arm around his shoulder, telling him it was better this way. Wouldn't want to get married with doubts on one side and then have it all go to hell in six months, take his word for it. Ennis had learned KE's wife had run off when he got down from Brokeback. She'd introduced Alma to Ennis so Alma'd felt extra sorry for KE, doting on him in Ennis' absence. He was still amazed how it all had worked out so perfectly. He and Jack lit out for Lightning Flat as soon as KE left, and Jack's old man dropped dead of a heart attack as soon as Jack told him Ennis was staying. KE and Alma got married in the spring of '64 and had two little girls whom Ennis adored and who spent summers on the ranch. Everything had come to his hand the right way in the end, as Jack put it.
He could smell smoke as he got near the camp site, so he knew Jack was back from his own meanderings. Sure enough, Jack was fussing with the fire when he entered the clearing. Ennis was greeted with a beaming smile which he returned in his usual, lower-wattage manner. He saw Jack noticing the coffee can and watched his eyebrows knit together.
"Whydja bring the coffee up there with ya?" Jack was staring fixedly at it as Ennis dismounted.
"Dunno. Don't even remember carryin it. Fell asleep in the grass and when I woke up, there it was, coffee all spilled out."
Jack moved up next to Ennis just as he was about to unbuckle the cinches to relieve Caffeine of her saddle. He laid his hand on Ennis' arm and pulled him away from his task, turning him gently to face him, drawing him close. Ennis could tell from his serious expression that Jack was recalling something, and he wondered if this coffee had something to do with one of Jack's trips.
Jack leaned in to kiss him, but Ennis got there first. They stood locked in a clinch for a full minute, lips and tongues sliding and sucking, hands stroking over and underneath clothing, groins rubbing, until Jack pulled back with some effort.
"Good, got you all riled up now and ready for your visitor," he whispered, grinning, and nodded toward the tent.
Ennis rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Dammit Twist, don't you ever believe me when I say one's enough?"
"Heh heh heh. You remember when you threw me that little surprise party for my 23rd birthday and I showed up two hours late? Well, guess where I was?"
"How d'you know that's when he's...I mean, when you're comin from?" Ennis kept his voice low as well.
"Cause I remember hearin us talk about the coffee can that time. Anyway, you go on in and see your boyfriend. I'm gonna ride down to the trailhead and fix the flat tire on the truck so we can get away early tomorrow mornin." Jack winked before turning away and swinging up into the still-warm saddle.
At the entrance to the tent, Ennis removed his hat and stooped to enter. There was Jack, stretched out naked on his back on top of the their sleeping bags, hands behind his head. He'd had some memorable encounters with a visiting Jack but this was the biggest age difference they'd had between them so far. That he knew of, anyway. Ennis went down on one knee and let his gaze sweep over his body while Jack just grinned at him.
"Happy anniversary. Still lookin good, Cowboy," Jack purred.
"Yeah, you sure are," Ennis breathed, tossing his hat into the corner. He lay down on his side facing Jack, his head propped on his hand.
"I meant you, Ennis." Jack rolled onto his side in turn and smoothed his hand along Ennis' cheek and jaw. "Lookin better than..." He rubbed his thumb along the side of the older man's eye.
"Better 'n who?"
"Better 'n anybody." Jack's fingers were now nimbly unsnapping the buttons on Ennis' shirt. "What are you now, thirty-five?"
Ennis smiled and brushed his fingers along Jack's arm and up his bicep. "Huh. Long past that."
"Damn, this tent's holdin up real well then. We just got it last year." Jack pulled Ennis' shirt out of his jeans and began working at his belt buckle. "And this double air mattress - can't wait for them to come out."
Ennis was exploring with his fingertips a fresh scar on Jack's shoulder. "You'll be glad to know this healed up good. Was some kick that mare gave you."
"Ennis?" Jack had fiddled open the button and was now tugging on the zipper.
"What?"
"Nice a you to worry about my injuries, but yer goin in the wrong direction."
"Oh. This better?"
"Uh huh. Ahh... that's new...yeah... keep doin that."
"Dumbass, you taught me that."
"I did? I will? uuuhh... well... now I know... where... I learned it...!
Read Part 2