FANFIC: Safe Harbor by Caroline Crane

Part of The Fetish Series:
Title:Safe Harbor
Author:Caroline Crane
Rating: R (See happy reading in sidebar!)
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Summary: Nick thought he'd memorized every inch of Greg.

He hasn't been gone that long, so it surprises him how much he's looking forward to seeing Greg. Going home is usually so full of family and old friends and people to catch up with that he barely thinks about Vegas unless somebody asks how his job's going, but this time…this time was different.

He spent a week in his parents' guestroom, saw his brother and all his sisters except Holly, who he hasn't seen since she moved to Corpus Christi with her husband. And mostly it was a normal visit – lots of family gossip, nieces and nephews who are taller now and old enough to make him feel his own age – but for the first time since he moved to Vegas he spent most of his trip home thinking about what was going on back there.

If he'd been distracted by a particular case it would have been one thing, but the truth is he didn't spend a week in Texas thinking about work. He spent the whole week thinking about Greg, and even though he tried not to let on his family noticed. His mother was the first to say something – that part wasn't surprising, because she's always been the spokesman for the family and she's always the one to ask him questions about his personal life.

He still remembers the time she got frustrated enough with his non-answers to flat-out ask him if he was ever going to get married and settle down like the rest of the family. He remembers the flicker of disappointment in her eyes when he said no, and he remembers how quickly she swallowed her surprise when he told her why. And it's not that he doesn't think he could be happy with 'a nice girl', as his mother puts it, but it hasn't happened yet, and he doesn't like to lie to his parents.

So he wasn't surprised when his mother asked what was on his mind, but he was surprised to hear himself answer her. He could have said something vague about work, but instead he looked her right in the eye and said 'I met someone'. Which is kind of a stupid way to put it, because he's known Greg forever and there are a few years in between meeting Greg and finally doing something about the way they feel about each other.

He'd said it, though, so he didn't bother to correct himself before he told her about Greg, and by the end of the conversation he found himself wishing he'd invited Greg to go home with him. Before he left he'd considered it once or twice, but he'd never brought a guy home before and he wasn't sure how his family would react. And okay, that probably made him a coward, but he likes the way things are between him and Greg and he worries sometimes that doing something as big as introducing Greg to his family will change that.

It's been almost six months now since they started sleeping together and they still haven't really talked about what they're doing. A few people at work know, but for the most part they keep things pretty low-key and Nick's always thought that was the way he wanted it. Only now he's seen the look on his mother's face when she asked how long Nick and Greg have been involved, he's seen the flash of hurt and suddenly it feels like he's been keeping a secret.

They spend more time together than apart, but he's never asked Greg if he's seeing anyone else. Nick knows he's not, but he's been thinking about it the whole way back to Vegas and he's starting to think that's not the point. The point is that they don't talk about it – they talk about work and their pasts and they spend a lot of time joking around, but they don't talk about them, about what they're doing and what they want. It's not a conversation he's ever wanted to have with anyone before Greg, and it's a little weird that it took his mother to make him realize it.

He shifts his weight impatiently as he waits for Greg to answer his door, and the apartment's not that big so Nick's not sure what's taking him so long. A few endless seconds later the door finally swings open, and when Greg grins at him Nick forgets to be annoyed. Instead he lets Greg grab him by the front of his shirt and pull him inside, barely managing to kick the door shut before he's up against the wall with Greg pressed up against him. Not that he's complaining, because this is something else he's been thinking about all week.

"You working tonight?" Nick manages to gasp when Greg lets him up for air, his hands already pushing Greg's shirt up his back.

"Nope," Greg murmurs against his neck. "Switched with Dorsey."

Thank God for Dorsey, Nick thinks as he pushes at Greg's arms until he lifts them to let Nick tug his shirt off. Nick's hands are on his back before the shirt even hits the floor, fingers mapping skin he's had memorized for months now, but never gets tired of touching. He can picture each scar as his hands brush across it, pictures the single freckle on Greg's shoulder blade as his fingers trace the angles of his back.

This isn't what he was planning for his first five minutes back in Greg's apartment. The kiss, sure – that much was a given, but when he'd thought about this on the plane he hadn't planned on methodically undressing both of them as he pushed Greg toward his bedroom. He isn't surprised that his default reaction to Greg is wanting to get him out of his clothes as quickly as possible, but there's a part of him that feels like they should talk first, like he should maybe ask Greg how work's been, or maybe just what he did all week without Nick.

He can't really stop to ask what's new at this point, though, and when he drops to his knees to slide Greg's jeans down his legs all his questions about what Greg's been up to are eclipsed by the one thing on Greg's body he hasn't memorized. "What…did you get a tattoo?"

His fingers trace the design as he says the words, and before Greg answers he's already thinking that only Greg would get a strand of DNA tattooed on his hip. He finally tears his gaze away long enough to glance up at the other man, and he's surprised to find that Greg actually looks a little nervous.

"It was a last minute thing," Greg answers, although something about the way he says it tells Nick it wasn't as last minute as Greg wants him to believe. "It's kind of boring around here without you."

And now he wishes even more that he'd taken Greg home to meet his family, because that, at least, wouldn't have been boring. Besides, he's pretty sure Greg's never been to Texas, and it would be something to be the one to show Greg something new for a change. "You got bored so you got a tattoo of DNA."

He's still tracing the design, and he can't help stealing constant, quick glimpses at the blues and greens and reds against pale skin. It's not exactly beautiful, but it's definitely Greg, and he finds himself wishing he'd been there to see it happen.

"Well it's not just DNA."

As soon as Greg says it Nick knows – he doesn't even have to ask, and when he looks up again he knows he's right. He's still on his knees, fingers still pressed against Greg's hip, and it takes an effort to push himself up until they're face to face again. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume it's not yours."

Greg rolls his eyes but it's even easier to see how nervous he is from up close. Nick's hand is still pressed against his hip, thumb moving in little circles and he's not sure he's ever going to be able to stop touching that spot. That spot that says Greg's his, and it should be terrifying but mostly it just makes Nick want him even more.

"It could be anybody's," Greg says, his voice a little breathy and Nick's not sure if it's because he's scared of Nick's reaction or if it has something to do with what Nick's doing with his hand.

"But it's not."

"No."

Nick knows Greg doesn't want to say it, but he really wants to hear it, and they both know he can be a lot more stubborn than Greg. He presses his mouth to Greg's neck, smiling at the gasp that escapes Greg's throat. His mouth moves along Greg's jaw to the corner of his mouth, a kiss that's meant to coax quickly turning into something more like reassurance. And he's known for awhile that Greg loves him, even though they never say that kind of stuff out loud, but this…this is permanent, and they both know exactly what it means.

It's one thing for Nick to paint his initials on Greg's hip. That was just paint – just a joke, really. As soon as he thinks it he realizes that Greg's tattoo is on the exact spot where Nick painted his initials that first time, and he remembers thinking at the time that he wished it was permanent. It scared him then how much he wanted to claim Greg, but it was a turn-on at the time, and it's even hotter now.

Greg's kissing him with an urgency that makes Nick even harder, and he groans when hands slide between them to work his jeans open. He helps Greg push them down his hips, kicking his boxers off too before he pushes Greg back onto the bed. "So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Greg asks, but the nervousness is gone and now he's smirking, his mouth forming an 'o' of mock surprise when Nick grabs his wrists and forces his hands over his head.

"I think I have a right to know whose DNA is tattooed on my boyfriend." Another first, because Nick's never had much use for words like 'boyfriend' or even 'commitment', but he knows Greg likes that stuff and he makes a promise to himself to say those things more often. Greg shifts underneath him and Nick bites back a moan when their cocks brush together, leaning forward to pin Greg more firmly to the mattress. "Not until you say it."

"Uncle." Greg laughs when Nick growls low in his throat because he knows Nick's pretending to be more frustrated than he is. "Okay, okay. It's yours."

He doesn't have to ask how Greg got his DNA in the first place – he's spent as much time in Greg's apartment over the past six months as he has in his own house. He's got a toothbrush here and clothes in Greg's closet, and when he stops to think about it he realizes how stupid it is that they're not living together. "Move in with me."

"What?"

Greg's eyes are wide and Nick knows he wasn't expecting that – Nick's not even sure where the idea came from, because until right now he's never even thought about it. He says it again anyway, move in with me, like it's something he's been thinking about for a long time. "I'm serious, G. We spend all our time together anyway."

"So you're not freaked out about the tattoo?"

"What, you wanted me to freak out?" Nick laughs, but the sound dies in his throat when he sees that Greg's serious.

"I wanted you to do something," Greg admits, and there's that nervous look again, the one that tells Nick that Greg's nowhere near as sure about how Nick feels as he thought. "I didn't really expect that."

"You're not as smart as you want everybody to think," Nick says, but his voice is rough and another kiss soothes all the sting out of the words. And it's just like Greg to do something so crazy – so permanent – to show Nick how he feels, but maybe he thought that was the only way to get his point across.

He's panting when Nick pulls back again, letting go of Greg's wrists to work his way down the center of Greg's chest. His mouth marks a trail across warm skin, stopping at Greg's hip to press a kiss to the spiral pattern of his own DNA. He curls one hand around Greg's cock, smiling against Greg's hip when he moans. And he thinks about making Greg come just like this because he wants to keep looking at the tattoo, but when Greg's hand threads through his hair Nick gives in and shifts until he's kneeling between Greg's legs.

He presses kisses to the insides of Greg's thighs, working his way slowly upwards until Greg's panting and babbling a litany of nonsense words peppered with the occasional 'please'. His fingers press against Greg's hip just below his tattoo, his other hand still working his length as Nick finally closes his mouth around the head of Greg's cock.

There was a time when he thought it would get boring, being with the same person long enough to know exactly what they liked. He always told himself he didn't want to settle into a routine, but his life was pretty routine before Greg, and he likes the fact that he knows exactly how to turn Greg on. He likes knowing just where to apply pressure, right when to pull back to stop Greg from coming too soon. But most of all he likes how much Greg wants him, and when Greg comes moaning his name he can't imagine ever giving this up.

He takes his time making his way back up Greg's body, stopping every so often to reacquaint himself with Greg's stomach, his elbow, the spot where his neck and shoulder meet. By the time he reaches Greg's mouth again his eyes are open, and he's watching Nick with a mixture of affection and smug self-satisfaction.

"You never answered me," Nick says, punctuating the words with a kiss to the corner of Greg's mouth.

Greg laughs breathlessly, and Nick feels the curve of that smile under his lips. "You're kidding, right? I got your genetic code tattooed on my hip. I'd be kind of insulted if you didn't ask me to move in."

"You're crazy."

"You love it," Greg answers, pushing hard on Nick's chest until he takes the hint and rolls onto his back. He pulls Greg with him, hands sliding along his back to curve around his hips again.

"Yeah, I do."

Greg swallows his surprise almost as soon as it registers on his face, but it's not fast enough for Nick to miss it. There are a lot of things he never says out loud, but he's starting to think he should say them more often just to see that expression. Then Greg leans forward to kiss his way down Nick's chest, and he stops thinking at all.

fin (But there is a follow up: A Hundred Minus One:)