Title: A Night Like This
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Zeke Barnes
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas /A Gifted Man
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Zeke Barnes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Zeke propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at the man sleeping next to him. He couldn't help smiling as he regarded Greg, raising a hand to stroke gentle fingers down his cheek, wondering what he could be dreaming about to put that contented look on his face.

It probably wasn't a dream at all, but rather, what they'd been doing for the past few hours, Zeke thought with another smile of satisfaction. They hadn't bothered to have dinner at all; they'd spent hours in bed, making love, talking, starting to learn more about each other.

Maybe this wasn't the usual way that people got to know each other, but it seemed to be working well for them. Zeke couldn't help but sigh as he thought back over the brief time that he'd known Greg; maybe he had gone about this in the wrong way.

But he hadn't been able to keep himself from seeing Greg tonight -- and what had happened after he had stepped into Greg's apartment had been inevitable. He hadn't expected it, but he doubted that he could have stopped himself from making love to Greg even if he'd wanted to.

Some attractions were just too strong to deny, he told himself. There would have been no use trying to do so; he'd only have been going against his instincts if he had. Besides, Greg seemed to want him just as much; there had been no question of force or coercion.

He'd never been as attracted to anyone as he was to Greg. From the first moment that they'd met, there in the hospital, he had wanted this man; and now that he had Greg, he intended to move their relationship along, to let it grow and flourish with each passing day.

He almost let out a wry laugh at the direction that his thoughts were moving in; this wasn't what he had planned to do when he'd moved from New York to Vegas. He had thought that he would stay single for a long time, play the field, just have a good time and not get involved.

That had been easier when he was in New York and trying to help Kate run the clinic. Then, when his mother had died, everything had changed. He didn't want to stay in New York, and even though Kate and Michael hadn't wanted him to leave, he'd known that he couldn't stay.

New York was where he'd been born and raised, but somehow, he had never felt that he really belonged there. No matter what he did, he was always on the outside looking in; even after he'd achieved his dreams and become a doctor, he had never felt comfortable in his own skin.

It was probably because too many people knew him, and expected him to be what they thought he should be, rather than who he actually was. He couldn't let anyone there know that he was gay; it would have made his life too complicated, made too many people turn away.

Oh, his friends would have accepted the fact that he was gay, as would all of his colleagues at the clinic. But he didn't feel comfortable there any more; he felt as though he'd done all that he could, and it was time for him to move on to the next challenge.

All right, so maybe working at a hospital in Vegas wasn't exactly as much of a challenge as his work at the clinic had been, but he was still needed here. There weren't many doctor who actually wanted to work the graveyard shift in the emergency room.

He had been told that he would be moved to that shift once he'd been at the hospital for a few weeks, and he was actually looking forward to it. He'd always been a night owl; getting up early in the morning to go to work at the clinic had become increasingly harder to do.

Somehow, he felt freer here in Vegas than he'd ever been when he'd lived in New York. Yes, he still had a lot of responsibilities at the hospital, but he didn't feel as though he was giving up his personal life to do the job he loved. He was finding a happy medium.

And now .... now he had stumbled into something that he was sure was going to be beautiful and special, something that was completely unexpected. Yes, he had planned to start dating and have more of a personal life here than he'd had at home, but not so soon.

Still, now that he'd found Greg, he wasn't going to back away. He had already fallen head over heels; this was much more than just simple attraction that would fade away in a matter of a few weeks or months. Greg was in his life for good; he was positive of that.

He hadn't expected to have a night like this; it had hit him out of the blue, this attraction that he felt for Greg. But he wasn't going to let go of it, even though he did feel that becoming involved so soon after he'd moved to Vegas might complicate his life.

He had intended to get his priorities with work straightened out first, to become comfortable with being so far away from home. He hadn't thought that he would find someone so soon, or that he would immediately jump into a serious physical relationship with them.

Nothing ever went according to plan, did it? Zeke asked himself wryly, allowing himself another small smile. But even though the plans that he'd thought were so carefully laid out had all been swept away by his emotions, he didn't regret that at all.

How could he? he thought as he gazed at Greg. He had never met anyone so beautiful -- or so desirable -- in his entire life. When Greg had walked into his office, it was as though every barrier had been broken down, every word of caution had melted away.

He had never wanted anyone as much as he wanted the man in his arms. But it was more than just desire. It was love -- he was more sure of that than he'd ever been of anything. He's never believed in love at first sight, but it had hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks.

What he felt for Greg went far past the physical -- and he didn't need a night like this one to tell him that. His heart was hopelessly entangled, whether he liked to admit it or not. Just like that, against his better judgment, he had let himself fall. And he didn't want to get up again.

Why had he let himself fall so hard? No, it wasn't that he'd let himself do anything, Zeke thought. He'd never felt such a strong attraction to anyone; it wouldn't have been possible for him not to fall for Greg. He simply had to accept that it had happened.

Truth be told, he wouldn't have wanted to be alone here in Vegas, anyway. He had spent most of his years in New York alone; it wasn't a state that he enjoyed being in, but since he'd begun working in the clinic, he hadn't felt that he had time to devote to a relationship.

Now, he had a lot more time -- even though he did spend a lot of time at the hospital. And once he was working on the graveyard shift, he would be on the same schedule that Greg was -- unless either of them ended up having to work overtime.

It was even possible that he would see Greg while they were both working -- after all, the county coroner's office was in the hospital that he worked at. So it wouldn't be unheard of for him to see Greg while they were both on duty -- which gave him even more of an incentive to go to work.

This might not be something that he'd planned on when he had moved here, but now that he was involved, he intended to stay that way. He wouldn't give Greg up now; he was committed to this man, even though they'd only known each other for a day.

He already felt that he knew more about Greg than he'd have been able to learn if they had simply sat and talked all night instead of making love. He knew about Greg's medical history, which told him a lot -- and made him curious about some things that he didn't know yet.

Zeke winced as his mind went back over what he had read; he knew about the lab accident that had resulted in Greg suffering some bad burns on his upper back, and about the incident where he'd been attacked and badly beaten by a gang of hoodlums.

Raising one hand, he trailed gentle fingertips down Greg's cheek, sighing softly as he thought of all that this man had been through. How could anyone want to hurt someone so beautiful? Zeke couldn't imagine why any person who took one look at Greg could wish him any harm.

He would never let anything happen to Greg, he vowed, a lump rising into his throat so that he had to swallow hard to force it back. From this night on, Greg was his; he was going to keep this man safe; at least as safe as he could, given Greg's job.

No, he hadn't counted on spending a night like this so soon after moving to Vegas, Zeke thought as he settled down against the cool pillows, sliding his arms around Greg to pull him closer. But he would be spending many, many more -- and he looked forward to each and every one of them.

***