Jack could feel Ennis behind him all the way back down the stairs and the sheer hurry of him ratcheted Jack's nerves up another notch or two. He was already strung as tight as the rope between a calf and a roping pony. He could taste blood in his mouth from busting Ennis's lip wide open with the second kiss.

Swear to God, it took everything Jack had not to turn and grab hold of the man. Only the thought of that little gal of Ennis's watching out the window stopped him. Tossing a glance over his shoulder, Jack's eyes brushed Ennis's like flint striking steel and both felt the rise of something huge like a grizzly waking from hibernation.

Jack jumped into the truck, fired her up, and put a shaking hand on the gearshift knob. After grinding a few teeth off the gears in his haste, Jack got the vehicle into reverse and backed into the street. Ennis looked up and down the road, making sure the coast was clear before directing Jack to turn right.

Ennis could almost feel Jack vibrating on the other side of the cab and wished he knew how to settle him down some. It had been four years, but Jack hadn't changed a whisker. Still antsy as a pig on ice, but hell, Ennis was feeling a bit restless himself. Shifting in his seat, he eased the pressure on the erection that had popped up soon as he saw Jack.

Jack stared a hole through the windshield, every inch of his skin aware of the man that sat little more than a foot away on the bench seat of the old pickup. All the way from Texas, with the mesquite flavored air ramming in the open window, moments from that first night of passion on Brokeback flashed through his mind and groin like heat lightning.

He remembered the cold rush of fear as Ennis snatched his hand back, sure that Ennis was about to beat him bloody. The taut, suspended moment when they teetered on the tightrope over the abyss, face to face, holding tight to each other's shirts. Ennis's sleep-clogged, "What're ya doin?" and his almost angry surrender to lust.

Jack's left foot jittered against the floorboard, as the memory of that night sent a slow spill of sun-warmed honey downward to his dick. That first time had been quick, violent in its intensity, devastating in its aftershocks. Jack knew that no matter how long he lived, or how many lovers he might have; he would never forget Ennis Del Mar.

He could hardly keep from pressing the gas pedal of the heap to the floor, even though she would rattle apart at anything over fifty. He could almost feel Ennis's callused hands on his skin. The raw power of the man that pushed Jack to the ground, yanked his jeans down and took him with the innocence of a mating animal. Jack yearned to feel that again.

Things had calmed down somewhat after that first night for which Jack was glad and yet somehow sorry. Maybe his daddy was right and he was like his mama: never satisfied with what he had. But he couldn't help wanting what he wanted, and now he was sure as a man could be that what he wanted was Ennis Del Mar. Ennis was not Jack's first lover, but he was the one Jack couldn't get out of his head, his crotch, or his heart.

And now he was here.

"Where we goin', boy?" Jack asked a little too loudly over the engine noise.

Ennis worked his jaw, dispensing his words like hard candy. "Just outside a town. You'll see the sign."

Jack glanced over at Ennis, his cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, grinning as though bursting with some grand and secret surprise. Ennis looked down, looked back up, the ghost of a smile haunting the corners of his mouth.

"Aw, come on, Ennis," Jack said. "You was glad enough to see me on the stairs."

Ennis looked quickly out the window and Jack returned his eyes to the road, cursing his impatience, not wanting to spook Ennis. In the gathering dark, a neon sign flickered on advertising a vacancy. Jack's grin returned as he pulled into the dirt parking lot. In less than ten minutes, Ennis closed the motel room door behind them and they were alone.

Jack put his keys down on the night table and turned to look at Ennis. Ennis was staring at him with a need so intense it resemble suffering. Instinctively, Jack moved toward him, aiming to comfort him. Ennis took two determined steps and crushed Jack in his arms.

Ennis's charge knocked Jack off his feet. Jack landed athwart the bed with Ennis atop him, both lunging at one another, foreheads smacking together, hands working frantically, grabbing, squeezing, stroking. Ennis put his hands on either side of Jack's face and held him still enough to bring their mouths firmly together.

Jack wrapped both arms and legs around Ennis, grinding his crotch against the other man's as their mouths opened at the same time. Tongues sliding sensuously together, they rolled across the bed, first one and then the other uppermost. They crashed into the headboard with Ennis atop Jack and loud bang brought them back to earth for a moment.

They drew apart, Ennis crouching over Jack like a mountain lion on a lamb, trying to calm their hearts enough to hear over the thunderous hammering. There was no sound from the next room. Jack's eyes met Ennis's and a slow smile curved his lips.

"Hoo-ee," Jack breathed. "You sure lit a fire under me."

Ennis shook his head, his mouth working, no noise coming out. Jack looked at him inquiringly just as Ennis pounced again, tearing at Jack's clothing. Jack followed Ennis's lead and soon both were naked as jaybirds and reveling in the feel of bare skin sliding against bare skin. And just as it had that cold night on Brokeback four years gone, and on the stairs less than an hour ago, a tide of pure, primal emotion swept them up and out of themselves.

The changes brought by four years of everyday living were recorded by feverish hands, but not spoken of aloud. Ennis noticed that Jack had filled out, his chest and shoulders broader than they'd been at nineteen. Jack saw the furrows that Ennis's hard life was carving at the corners of his eyes and mouth. And each felt in his partner a physical confidence gained from manful attention to conjugal duties.

Both were trembling with the need to get as close as possible, their rock hard arousals seeping clear fluid, their mouths welded together. When the tension grew past the point where it was bearable, Ennis broke the kiss and turned Jack belly down. Jack eagerly got to all fours and looked back at Ennis over his shoulder, half-daring, half-praying.

Ennis looked into the eyes that had been his sky for a season and in all his dreams since, and felt all that he'd felt on Brokeback come crashing into him like an avalanche. He spit on his fingers, pushed two into Jack and scissored them. Holding Jack open, Ennis grabbed his hard on and eased the tip into the tight passage.

Jack moaned his approval as Ennis leaned over his back, filling him at a steady pace. With a groan of bliss, Ennis sheathed his length in velvet heat that felt no different from Alma's and yet it was. Jack took several deep breaths, and then bore down on Ennis's ensconced shaft. Ennis gasped at the exquisite sensation and began to thrust reflexively.

The small, musty room filled up with the sounds of panting breath, small cries, groans and grunts. Ennis's fingers sank into the flesh of Jack's hips as he lengthened his stroke and increased the pace. Jack rocked on hands and knees, providing solid resistance for the man that rode him. They hit their stride, falling into the same hard and sweet rhythm they'd found on Brokeback Mountain.

Neither could hold back the intense, consuming climaxes that overtook them almost simultaneously. Jack balanced on his knees and one hand, and took hold of his aching arousal. On Ennis's next thrust, Jack came explosively, bearing down on the shaft that stretched him so gloriously.

Ennis dropped his head as he lodged his full length in the quaking channel and his seed unfurled like a geyser. Overpowered by the wave of pleasure that foamed through him, Ennis collapsed onto Jack. Jack toppled to the bed, grunting at the abrupt dismount as Ennis rolled away. Then their eyes met and suddenly they were both laughing like idiots.

"I forgot just how good it could be," Jack sighed as he dragged himself up to lean against the scarred headboard.

Drained by his first satisfying orgasm in four years, Ennis didn't resist as Jack pulled him to lie against his chest. Jack wrapped his arms around Ennis and let out a slow breath of utter contentment. He was at peace for the first time since driving away from Signal. Now he knew. It wasn't some crazy aberration. He loved Ennis Del Mar.

Jack nearly opened his mouth to say that very thing, but Ennis's soft snore stopped him. Smiling fondly, Jack laid his cheek against Ennis's dishwater blonde hair and inhaled the complex combination of smells that was Ennis; tobacco, horse, earth and male musk. Jack had no doubt now that Ennis was the one.

It was true that he and Ennis were both married now, but they could get around that. Hell, it'd actually be a blessing for Lureen and Alma to be shut of their neglectful husbands, and Lureen's daddy had hinted heavily that there would be a reward involved if Jack skipped out. Now, Jack had in his arms all the reason he needed to escape his rapidly cooling marriage.

It was a little different for Ennis, but it was obvious to Jack from the brief encounter in the Del Mar home that Alma would step aside. Ennis didn't really love her, after all, and she must be able to feel it. Of course, he loved his kids, Jack understood all about that, but he could visit them. It would all work out.

Elated by the idea that it could always be like this, Jack hugged Ennis closer and kissed him on the temple. He couldn't wait for Ennis to wake up so they could talk about it, make plans. Things were going to be a whole lot better from now on. He couldn't wait to see his daddy's face when he and Ennis got that old ranch working like it should.

Jack fell asleep with his love in his arms and a smile on his lips, and his optimism bled into dreams of his future with Ennis. And he was happy for a little while.

The End