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Jack's horse followed Ennis', picking a careful route along the dry track back to the camp. After a week of warmer weather, they knew summer had finally found its way to the mountain, and the milder nights were welcome.
The hotter, stickier days— not so much.
Ennis half turned his head and Jack smiled to himself. He could happily take in the sight of Ennis all day, and he'd never thought that about anyone before.
"Reckon I'll have a wash down 'fore we eat, Jack. Can't abide the dust down my neck."
Jack grinned. He was pretty sure Ennis had not been so fastidious when they first arrived on Brokeback.
"Sounds like a good idea. I got a say, I prefer it when you're clean, too."
Ennis pursed his lips and faced forward. Comments like that would get them into trouble if they weren't careful.
The trees thinned to reveal their campsite, and the horses ambled to the shady area they usually occupied. Ennis dismounted gracefully and patted Cigar Butt on his flank.
"I'll see to you in a minute, darlin'."
Jack let himself down more cautiously. He'd sustained a slight injury earlier, when he'd jumped from his horse and landed on a hidden stone, causing him to fall awkwardly on his left knee. The mild ache was now a constant throb, and as he put weight on his leg, a grimace crossed his face.
"You want me to look at that?" Ennis frowned as Jack limped over to him. This was the worst injury either of them had suffered so far— the slight scrapes and knocks they picked up went with the job, but this was something more.
Jack managed a smile. "You like takin' care a me, Ennis? 'Cause I sure enjoy it when you do." He stepped closer, a hand reaching to touch Ennis' chest. "Maybe later—"
"Maybe later you'll stop your foolin' around." Ennis' tone was not as stern as his words, and he covered Jack's hand briefly with his own. "But your knee won't be no use unless we get it strapped up."
Jack hobbled to the fire and sat heavily on the log. "Strap it with what, anyway? You got a doctor's bag hidden away somewhere?"
Ennis emerged from the tent with a handful of coloured cloth.
"Nope. But you got this." He waved his hand towards Jack, who realised Ennis held one of his bandanas.
"Regular boy scout, ain't ya, Ennis del Mar."
Ennis folded the bandana to form a makeshift bandage. He gave Jack a frowning look.
"Jus' gettin' payback for that time you fussed over me."
"Ennis, it was a bear. You could a been killed." Jack gazed up at him in exasperation.
"Well, I weren't. Okay, get them jeans off."
"Now you're talkin'." Jack's grin became a wince as he wrestled his jeans down.
"Stop messin' about, you asshole. Let me look." Ennis pressed his fingertips gently on either side of Jack's knee, pausing when Jack drew in a sharp breath. "That the spot?"
"Yep. Reckon you can fix it?" Jack knew Ennis had a way with minor injuries, from how he handled the sheep and horses.
"Jus' needs time. An' none a your prancin' about like an idiot." Ennis bound the bandana snugly and knotted it. "You'll be okay in the saddle, but be careful puttin' weight on it."
Jack nodded, struggling to his feet to pull up his jeans. "Anything else, nurse?"
Ennis swatted at him, and Jack sat down with a grunt.
"Jus' leave me in peace to get us some food, 'less you want a go hungry this evenin'."
Supper was behind them, Ennis having washed the dishes after Jack attempted to hobble to the water with them himself.
"I swear, you make a goddam awful patient, Twist. Let me do it."
Jack sank down gratefully. "Don't seem right you havin' to do everythin'."
"Don't you worry... next time I'm laid up you can look after me." Ennis offered him a rare grin and took the plates from him, and Jack watched him cross the site to the water.
I'd be happy to look after you for as long as it takes.
Jack had no idea how likely that might be. It didn't stop him hoping, though.
As the light began to fade from the sky, Ennis pinched out the cigarette and tucked it in his pocket.
"I should be gettin' back up there, Jack. Light's nearly gone."
Jack stirred, yawning widely. He adjusted his leg with care before responding.
"Thought you might stay here tonight." He flicked a glance at Ennis, who was staring at the fire.
"I thought we said—"
"Yeah, I know. But that was before I twisted my knee. What if somethin' happens in the night, an' I can't see to it?"
Ennis smiled inwardly. Sometimes Jack was transparent as glass... yet he had a point, Ennis conceded.
"Fair 'nough. Can't have you clumping about an' makin' it worse, I s'pose." He pretended not to notice Jack's small grin of triumph. "You ready to turn in?"
"Yep. I can just about see to the fire if you settle the horses."
Ennis scrambled to his feet and helped Jack to stand, before taking the empty beer bottles and putting them in the trash. In a few minutes, they were both in the tent.
Jack pulled off his shirt and lowered himself to the bedroll to remove his boots. Ennis watched him struggle to reach the second one for a moment, then crouched beside him. He silently lifted Jack's hands away and wiggled the boot off, placing it with the other to one side.
"Might have trouble with these," said Jack as he loosened his belt and unbuttoned his jeans.
"Be the first time," muttered Ennis. He looked up, his mouth hitching into a smile at Jack's expression. "It's true," he continued as Jack lifted his hips, allowing Ennis to tug the jeans below his knees.
"Ain't my fault, Ennis. You can see what happens when I think a you."
Ennis couldn't help but be aware of it. He glanced at Jack's face, his cheeks lightly flushed, his eyes half-lidded. After pulling the jeans down and away, his hand slid back up Jack's leg, fingertips leaving a tingling trail on his skin. Jack moaned softly, shifting himself so his half hard cock brushed against Ennis' hand.
"As you're stayin' down here tonight... shame to waste the opportunity."
Ennis' eyes narrowed. "How come I get the feelin' you planned this?"
But his fingers continued to trace a teasing path across Jack's skin, and his own jeans were soon uncomfortably tight.
"Come on, cowboy. Too many clothes for my likin'." Jack sat forward and started on the shirt buttons, while Ennis knelt up and loosened his jeans with a shaky sigh. As he pushed them down, Jack licked his lips and reached out, one finger slicking the glistening bead of moisture lightly over the head of Ennis' cock, and down.
"Fuck, Ennis..."
Jack looked up. Ennis' lips were parted, the tip of his tongue just visible. When Jack lowered his head to take him in his mouth, Ennis gasped, his hands coming to rest on Jack's shoulders, the nails digging in.
Jack curled his tongue, sliding it along Ennis' cock before his lips teased the tip, his fingers wrapping round as he began to pump slowly. Ennis was panting now, pushing against Jack eagerly.
When Jack had first done this, Ennis had not known where to look.
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They were higher on the slopes, deciding where to move the flock later in the week. After skirting a swathe of trees, they found the perfect spot and dismounted to have a break in the shade before returning. The sun was high in the sky, the air warming nicely. Insects buzzed in the vegetation and the horses cropped the grass. Ennis sat with his back to a smooth trunk, hat beside him, squinting up at Jack.
"Almost like a day off up here." He flopped down next to Ennis, accepting the proffered cigarette and taking a long pull.
"Uh huh." Ennis felt drowsy. There was an understanding between them, and he'd never been this comfortable in anyone else's company.
The cigarette was finished, and Jack stubbed it into the ground beside them. With a sigh, Ennis started to get to his feet, eyebrows raising when Jack pushed him back gently.
"Don't need to get goin' yet."
Warmth rose through Ennis' body as he took in Jack's meaning.
"Out here? What if Aguirre—"
"No way he can see this far up, Ennis. An' we're hidden by these trees, anyhow." Jack moved closer. "Jus' lay back, I can make this real quick if you're worried."
One corner of Ennis' brain was always worried, yet increasingly he let himself be persuaded.
In truth, Jack didn't need to try too hard.
"What you got in mind here?"
Jack was unbuckling his belt.
"I can take care a you an' me in one go." He dropped his jeans and reached for Ennis. "I promise you'll like this, Ennis."
With a final glance around, Ennis allowed Jack to drag his jeans down. When he tried to get to his knees, Jack held him down.
"You stay there. I got this."
Ennis wrinkled his brow, but his confusion was short-lived as Jack lowered his head. He gave Ennis a last look, blue eyes mischievous behind dark lashes, as his tongue skimmed the length of Ennis' cock in a slow lick.
Ennis stiffened, his instincts shouting at him to scramble away. This was so unlike anything he'd experienced before... and it was a man doing it.
But the man was Jack, and that made a huge difference.
He watched, eyes fixed on Jack's tongue and his lips, reddened by the slight friction of the movement. Then Jack's hand took over, his mouth teasing at the tip, and Ennis could see his other hand moving down to wrap around his own cock.
It was too much. The intense sensations pulsing outwards had Ennis bucking his hips, one hand clutching at Jack's hair. With a few more strokes he was there, and Jack took it greedily as his hand slowed. Ennis heaved a shuddering sigh, opening his eyes to see Jack leaning to one side as he shot off into the grass.
Then there was silence. Jack knelt up, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand. He leant in and kissed Ennis lazily, sharing the saltiness on his tongue. This was another first for Ennis, but he didn't flinch as he tasted himself in Jack's mouth, returning the kiss with a low hum in his throat.
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And ever since then, when Jack took him like this, he went gladly.
So when Jack stopped and drew away, Ennis' eyes opened in surprise.
"Sorry, Ennis... I'm gettin' a crick in my neck." Jack looked up ruefully, his face flushed and his mouth shamelessly wet.
Ennis bent down and kissed him roughly, the taste they shared sending a shiver across his skin. "Let's get to it, then."
But when Jack moved to kneel on the bedroll, he cursed loudly.
"Sonofabitch... Christ, that hurts." He collapsed onto his back, one hand massaging his knee gingerly. Ennis edged over, kicking off his jeans as he went.
"Goddammit, Jack. You gone an' got me all ready to go here." He knew it wasn't Jack's fault. Not really.
"Sorry, cowboy." Jack reached out to rub a hand along Ennis' thigh. "You ain't the only one." He shuffled a little, allowing his legs to spread wide. "There's room for you here," he said invitingly.
Ennis' gaze travelled the length of Jack's body to his face, where a hopeful smile waited for him.
In all their times together since that first, frantic night, they had never fucked facing each other. Had come close a few times, but always Ennis turned Jack and slid inside him from behind. Jack never commented, and Ennis wasn't complaining... the view he had was plenty good enough for him.
The other way... that was for ordinary people. Normal people. People in love, perhaps.
It ain't for the likes of us.
But Ennis wanted Jack, with a passion he had not realised he possessed. Not until the mountain showed him.
These thoughts slid through his head, a reasoning not formulated from words but rather from a deep longing. And the man stretched out before him was all he needed to satisfy it completely.
So Ennis blinked in the half light, offered Jack a small smile, and moved to settle between his legs. He'd been here often enough, yet this was different. Somehow, it finally felt right.
Jack pulled him closer, their bodies pressed fully together from head to toe. Ennis shuddered with the sensation of sinking into Jack, as though they were one, and he couldn't tell where he ended and Jack began. Then Jack shifted beneath him and their cocks rubbed together, and the fanciful notion dissolved as heat flared in Ennis' gut. His mouth found Jack's in a gentle kiss, their lips and tongues meeting delicately even as the contact lower down became more fevered.
Ennis propped himself up on his elbows.
"Jack."
Their eyes met in the increasing gloom of the tent, and Jack slid a hand between them, fingers gliding in the heat and sweat and slickness until he held both their cocks in his grasp. Ennis raised his hips a fraction to allow Jack to set a steady rhythm, his gaze never leaving the blue eyes which drew him in. Ennis had resisted the intimacy of this position for so long, reluctant to see in Jack's face a truth he had tried to deny in himself. But now it was there between them, pulling Ennis into an exhilarating vortex as Jack's hand sped up.
"You okay like this, Ennis?" Jack's whispered query was met with a nod and a grunt, as Ennis stared at him, eyes wide.
"I'm close, Jack," he managed, before the breath left his lungs and his vision blurred. A few moments later, he heard Jack call his name, his voice seemingly distant. They shuddered together, Jack's hand slowing to a gentle stroke, before he slid it out and rubbed it on the side of his hip.
Ennis flopped onto Jack's chest, his heart thumping. He kissed his shoulder before tucking his head under Jack's chin. Jack wrapped his arms around him and Ennis sighed, one hand reaching up to touch the side of Jack's face. Even as his breathing slowed his chest still felt full; every emotion demanding to be delineated by words Ennis didn't have. So he nestled closer to Jack and pressed a soft kiss to his chest, and for some while they lay still, the darkness almost total now.
Jack shifted, peering down at Ennis. One hand teased through the honey-coloured curls at the nape of Ennis' neck. "That okay, cowboy?"
Ennis swallowed. He nodded silently and pushed himself up, reaching for the nearest thing he could find to wipe the stickiness coating their bodies.
"That's my shirt... gone a have to wash it again now." Jack grabbed a corner and rubbed his stomach.
"Are you never satisfied, Twist?" Ennis groped for the blanket and dragged it over them.
"My smokes're in the pocket, too." Jack found the crumpled pack and lit a cigarette as Ennis rested against his chest.
"Sorry 'bout your shirt," Ennis said as Jack passed him the cigarette. "Guess that was twice as much as normal."
Jack snorted, his laugh turning into a cough. "Ennis del Mar—" he continued to splutter, and Ennis held the cigarette out of the way until he'd finished.
Jack shook his head and wiped his eyes. Ennis didn't know what was so funny, and that seemed to amuse Jack even more.
"Don't matter, bud. It's jus' you, is all."
Sometimes I have no idea what's going through your head, rodeo.
Ennis yawned. He figured he didn't need to understand everything Jack said. At the moment, he was exactly where he wanted to be.
"We need to get us some sleep, Jack. Got us a busy day tomorrow."
Jack extinguished the cigarette and lay down. "When isn't it," he grumbled, turning to face Ennis.
"No pleasin' some people," muttered Ennis, who secretly found Jack's occasional grumpiness amusing.
"You seemed pretty pleased just now," teased Jack, as they got comfortable. Warmth rose on Ennis' face, and he turned to face away from Jack.
"It was good," he mumbled. "An' I'm just about ready for sleep now."
Jack knew Ennis was not one for extended chats, especially when he was tired. He kissed his shoulder and slid an arm round his waist.
"'Night then, Ennis."
Ennis yawned as he took Jack's hand and positioned it in front of him. Usually when they spent the night together, he fell asleep facing Jack's back, but this way seemed right tonight.
"G'night."
Jack mumbled something in response, but he was already half asleep. Ennis smiled to himself and closed his eyes.
All the while they had been doing this, from their first desperate union, Ennis told himself repeatedly I'm not queer. This is different.
He had no idea what other men did together, and he didn't want to find out.
Me an' Jack— it's just us. No-one else's concern.
The fact they had never fucked face to face set them apart for Ennis. They weren't together; they weren't a couple. It wasn't like Jack was his boyfriend.
That kind of talk was for real queers.
But now he felt differently. He had seen the yearning in Jack's face, seen the desire in his eyes. And Ennis knew Jack could see the same in him.
I'm queer. Leastways, as far as Jack's concerned, I am.
Ennis sighed, and Jack moved behind him, settling closer. Ennis could feel warm breath whispering across his shoulder.
There was a lightness in his chest. He knew who he was, and what he was.
What this meant for the future, he wasn't certain. That was a question for another day.
His fingertips brushed Jack's knuckles lightly. For now, this would be enough.