Title: "Pearls"
Rating: M for sexual situations
Pairings: Ennis/Jack/ Ennis/Alma
Disclaimer: These characters are the sole property of Annie Proulx. No copyright infringement is intended. (I'm just a fan who likes to fill in the blanks.)
Summary: Some jewels are more precious than others.






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Man-Made

Pearls, he thought. That's exactly what they looked like.
Delicate droplets left upon a damp taut stomach, gleaming in slivered shafts of moonlight. Could have been stripped right from some oyster's shell, the briny flavor they left on his tongue a reminder of the salty oceans in which their namesake were formed.
His own fingertips shone too, soft light reflected across the flat tops of his nails as they went to touch each jewel, as if he might grab hold of them somehow, maybe string them end to end like a necklace. A priceless creation if he could manage it.
A flutter, a shudder, a sigh, and a hand came up to restrain his own. "Stop that, En."
"Why? Does it bother you?" He had forgotten how ticklish Jack was. No matter. Ennis had gathered enough beads together to savor inside his mouth; another mountain memory made all the more unforgettable.
"No. It's jus that...it's late." Legs moving, chafing together, trying to keep something at bay. "Them stupid sheep are gonna--"
"I know what time it is," he said, could swear he felt the heat begin to rise again just outside the perimeter of sense. "So? Still a long way from sunrise."
A suggestive groan. "See how your doin that gets to me?" He looked down in surprise. Could Jack be ready to go again, so soon?
"Yeah, I see," spoken through a smile. There was warmth now coming up through Jack's tepid and pale skin, no doubt about it now, his breath already going heavy and thick with renewed arousal.
"A man needs to jus sleep once in a while." Common sense was trying to prevail, but all Ennis could see were those pearls, and how they changed and ran liquid from all that sudden but careful movement. It was maddening, how much his body still craved him.
"Sure enough. But I don't think now is the time." Reason and logic had no place here. All that belonged was them, and this hunger. "Do you?"
He bent and captured those swollen lips again, drawing out then swallowing up all words and breath and protest, and rose up over him like a great wave of foaming water, breaking over that eager body like a pounding surf against a yielding shore, over and over and over.
This is what he remembered.

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Saltwater

"Help me with my earrings, honey? These screw-backs are so hard to fasten right."
"Sure, Alma," he replied, reaching up with clumsy man-hands to try and work the tricky clasps closed.
He took in their proper Sunday morning reflection in the bathroom mirror, husband and wife to the world but barely so to each other, watched those petite ivory hands with their pink knuckles delicately finger the ancient choker at her throat, the loose cotton string just barely holding the small but weighty pearls together.
Pearls. He suddenly wanted to rip the damn thing right off her neck.
Just break the clasp and set them loose, cut apart the little knots that held each one in line, watch them scatter and fall in a shower across that body, the body he could so clearly picture lying prone before him right now, naked and glowing and wet and beautiful, still so very beautiful. To see Jack's skin dappled with that lovely opalescent glow just once more; to have those arms, those legs, opening wide for him and only him. And then...and then...
He touched the strand, smiling but not at her, gently ran fingers across those smooth and rounded bumps as he mouthed the nape of her neck, wondering what the hard cool beads might taste like if he crushed them to powder between his teeth.
"Guess I'll have to hock this when the baby comes," she remarked sadly, leading Ennis' other hand down to rest against her swollen belly. "Don't think my Great-Grandma would have minded all that much, what with pearls supposed to remind a lady of tears an all."
"I'm sorry, Alma," he said, and he was -- for many things. He rocked her back and forth a little, but didn't hum in her ear.
She closed her eyes. "S'alright, En. Our child needs diapers and formula more than I need these decorations."
"Alright." Might just be enough to help keep them above water. Then it wouldn't be laying around in that box on their dresser to remind him anymore.
Good.
This is how he survived.