A/N: I do not own Left 4 Dead 2, their Infected, Ellis or Nick. They belong to Valve. I am just happily using the sexiness of a hick and a gambler. ^_^
Please note, this is a MA chapter, if you're not interested in reading male/male action to any extent, please wait until chapter 3 is posted as that will go back to plot.

xxxxx

Day 0.2

Nick led Ellis across the room by the hand. The younger boy from Georgia seemed too tired to resist him. It wasn't until they finally reached the bathroom door that he felt a pull on his arm.

"What the?" Ellis finally woke up enough to realize what Nick had just said. Pulling his hand away he added, "It was just some insurance to make sure we all made it out alive, Nick.. That's all. It was a joke man, nothin' more."

Nick kept quiet and continued to head into the bathroom. He lowered himself to the side of the tub and began to let the water run. As his hand rested under the tap to test the temperature, he finally looked back at Ellis.

"Come on Ellis. Let me do this. Take it as a thank you gift. Maybe even as an apology for all the crap I've said to you ever since meeting you on top of the hotel roof." He smirked, but decided feigning innocence might work better on his dense friend instead. Turning his smirk into a more friendly smile, he stared at those tired green eyes.

"There's no harm in us both winning the bet, Ellis. You deserve this, you've earned this. You've done so much for us to get everyone safe. Besides.. if I don't help you, you'll probably drown yourself as tired as you look." He couldn't help but wink as he said the last bit.

"Fine man, just.. no funny business. Just get this done so I can go to bed." Finally giving in, Ellis stepped into the room and peeled off his shirt. His muscles were a feast for Nick to take in. He wanted that body to be his, needed it to be wrapped around him. The grey eyed man's stare didn't go unnoticed and Ellis hesitated, his hands resting at waist level where his coveralls were rolled up.

"Umm.. do you mind turning around for me..? It feels kind of weird with you staring."

"Oh, was I? Damn man, must be more tired than I thought and zoned out." He made a show of turning around to get some towels ready for later. Trying to keep himself busy, his mind wandered to images of Ellis' tanned body. It wasn't until he heard the sound of Ellis sinking into the water that he turned around.

When he looked, Ellis was sitting in the middle of the tub, giving just enough room for Nick to wash his back without trouble. He knelt down on the floor next to Ellis and lifted the water to dampen the bronzed shoulders. Even with the grime and bile from their escape from the infected, he was beautiful. The water glistening on his skin reminded Nick of all the portrayals of the Gods in recent films. Perfection.

With soap in hand, he starts to scrub the dirt away from that perfect body. His movements were slow and soft, working a lather onto the skin. He circled the bar of soap around with his right hand as his left followed behind with a gentle rub. Wanting to savor the moment, not knowing if he'd ever get the chance to do this again, he stayed on the shoulders as long as he dared.

Setting the soap aside, he cups his hands and lets the water flow across the shoulders once more. As the soap washed away, revealing the now clean bronze skin underneath, a smile crept across Nick's face once again. He leaned in, quietly smelling the minty scent of the soap before placing a soft kiss on Ellis' right shoulder.

"Maybe he really did fall asleep.." Nick thought to himself, surprised the boy hadn't reacted to the stolen kiss. He moved the soap around to lather up Ellis' chest, while his left hand slid down to rest on the lower part of his back. Soft kisses were continued on the shoulder as he gently scrubbed his chest.

The soap was washed away as his lips travelled from the shoulder and across the nape of Ellis' neck. It wasn't until he moved down to taste his collar bone that Nick looked up to see Ellis staring down at him. It wasn't the bright look of optimism Nick had grown so used to, nor was it anger. He seemed.. curious at what Nick was doing.

He began to pull away, uncertain what Ellis would do now that he'd been caught. Ellis just slowly shook his head, his hands coming up to rest on Nick's jawbone. As he pulled Nick back towards him, almost hesitantly, Nick couldn't help but smile. With his lips back on Ellis' collar bone, Nick kissed with more certainty now. No longer worried about what Ellis might do.

He continued bathing his friend. A gentle lathering followed by rinsing. Each newly washed area gaining the attention of Nick's lips. First the left arm, then down the right. Then finally back up to the neck.

Here, at the neck, he began to nibble with his lips. As his mouth found the arch of Ellis' neck, he began to bite. Pulling at the flesh with a new hunger, Nick almost began to lose it. He'd gone too long without a lover, and now it was all flooding back.

The new vigor in Nick's attention stirred a fear in Ellis, bringing back too many memories of the zombies they've just spent the last few weeks running from. Ellis grabbed the man's arms and pushed him away forcefully. The look of panic was clear in his eyes.

"Ellis! I'm so sorry man! I got carried away.. I should have known you wasn't into it. I was just hoping…" Nick hung his head.

"What…? No.. it isn't that. I mean, it felt great. You just.. I'm just tired right now and with you biting at my neck.. It just reminded me of them, y'know?"

"I.. Wow, you're right. I hadn't thought of that. I apologize. I.. won't do it again." He replied with a quiet sadness that Ellis didn't miss. He quickly cocked a smirk though, "but come on, do you blame a guy for wanting every inch of that neck of yours? You really are bea…"

He was stopped as Ellis grabbed the back of his head and forced their lips together. It caught Nick by surprise and he began to fight back, until his mind finally caught back up. This, this is what he had been waiting for ever since he saw the man standing on top of the hotel. Every time those lips wore that goofy grin. Every time he saw the boy sleeping, his lips slowly moving with each breath.

There was a longing behind the kiss Nick wasn't expecting. It was as if Ellis too had been wanting this to happen for awhile. He devoured Nick's lips, pushing into the older man with a deep hunger. Reaching down, he fumbled with Nick's pants, trying to unfasten them.

Getting the meaning behind it, Nick helped and finished undoing the button and pushed his pants down. They weren't even half way off before he was being pulled into the tub by strong arms.

"Hold on man, I know these need to be washed but that'll come later!" Nick chuckled as he finished kicking off his pants before settling fully into the water. He turned towards Ellis and leaned against him. Their lips found each other once more as Nick pushed Ellis against the back of the tub. His hands travelling up and down the side of the firm torso.

The force behind the kisses dampened, but the hunger remained. Nick pulled himself from those luscious lips and began to nip upwards, along Ellis' jaw line. He took the small earlobe between his lips and pressed hard. His tongue licked viciously against the piece of flesh. A quick bite with his teeth and he pulled away, heading back down the jaw.

He lingered in front of Ellis' lips before placing a small kiss and biting his chin. His lips travelled down across his Adam's apple, nipping as he went. A small kiss was placed in the clavicle before teeth were used to bite along each branch of the collar bone. Moans were all that could be heard from Ellis, deepening the lower Nick went.

As Nick played with Ellis' collar bone, his hand came up to meet the hardened nipples. He gave each one a quick pinch, causing a shudder of breath from his friend. His thumbs pushed and rubbed into his nipples as he continued to bite and kiss along the collar bone. Ellis' breaths and moans quickened as he was continuously toyed with.

A warm and wet sensation darted across Ellis' skin as Nick's tongue flicked down the center of his chest. His lips sucked at the well-toned flesh between Ellis' perk nipples. Slowly, Nick traced the ridge of the muscles with his tongue, leaving a thin wet trail behind him. His fingers continued to pinch and pull at Ellis' nipples, causing shudders of mixed pain and pleasure to ripple through the young man's body.

Pulling his head back, Nick looked up at those green eyes filled with a deep passion he hadn't seen in a long time. He slowly lowered his head back to his new lover's chest, still staring at those beautiful eyes. A flick of the tongue across the left nipple and Ellis' eyes nearly clasp together from the feeling. They closed completely as the rush of pleasure filled him when Nick attacked it with his mouth, sucking on it like a hardened candy.

Nick's hands dipped down along Ellis' firm body. His fingers traced around the muscles of his abdomen before brushing across the upper ridge of thick hair. As his arm bumps against Ellis' erection bobbing in the water, he remembers the bar of soap left abandoned on the side of the tub. Reaching for the soap with his right hand, he uses the other to wrap around the younger man's body and cups his opened palm against his toned ass.

Ellis braces his arms against the edges of the tub as Nick lifts his ass until his lower half is floating in the water. With soap in hand, Nick begins forming a thick lather across his glistening abs. The soap slides across his skin, running through the crevices between the muscles, arousing Nick even more. It didn't help that the thing he wanted most right now was staring him in the face as he cleaned Ellis' stomach. Ellis' erection, a beacon of flesh swaying with each movement Nick made against him.

The water once again cascades across Ellis' body, washing away the soap and grime. Nick leans forward, pressing against Ellis' hard cock as he leans down to kiss and lick along the ridges of his abs. His tongue slithered up the center of the delicious skin and flicked rapidly back down. He pulls back and releases the warm piece of meat from in between the two of them. Staring at the beautiful erection in front of him, it took all he could muster to not devour the man right there. Instead, he leaned in close and let his breath dance up and down the shaft causing it to twitch and a soft moan come from it's owner.

"I.. still need to do your legs." Nick finally says as he forces himself away from that succulent piece of flesh. "Stand up for me, Ellis."

Ellis complies, resting a hand on Nick's shoulder as he rises from the tub. The water glistens across his tanned body, causing Nick to pause in admiration. His eyes take in every inch of the perfect body in front of him, memorizing every detail. As his hand idly slips down between his legs, the caressing of his ear brings him back to the moment.

"So, you were saying something about washing my legs? Or, are you just going to stroke yourself now like the greedy bastard you are?" Ellis growls to the man below him before spreading a grin across his face.

"Oh really? You could just take it as a compliment, ass." Nick snips. "Might I remind you, I won this little bet of our's Ellis, not you. I should just leave you to finish this yourself as a reminder that you were the loser between us."

Nick begins to stand, his movements are purposely slow. The reaction he was hoping for didn't take long, though it wasn't fully what he was expecting either. For Ellis to make some gesture to stop him, yes. Ellis placing his strong hands on the man's shoulder and shoving him back down on his knees, was not, however, anything he had expected.

"I don't care about the bet anymore, Nick. You're going to finish what you started, and you're going to finish it now." Ellis' voice gained a strength to it the older man hadn't heard from before. There was a power behind the voice that pulsed through Nick's body. It was intoxicating. He needed to hear it more, but after a minute of hesitating he was rewarded with nothing except silence and that strong grip.

The hands didn't move from their hold on Nick's shoulders. Even as Nick once more picked up the soap and began lathering up Ellis' thighs, the hands remained. It made his movements difficult, but Nick kept at it. Soap and hands glided up and down the young man's legs, the muscles from constant running over the past few weeks flexed beneath his touch. A twist of the wrist and Nick's hand moved up and between Ellis' legs and lathered up his firm ass. Looking up as he finished soaping up each cheek, Nick saw a smile creep across Ellis' lips.

Still a little frustrated from Ellis calling him a bastard, a smirk crept across Nick's face to match Ellis'. It wasn't until Ellis felt something thick pierce into him that he realized what the smirk was for. Nick managed to thrust two of his fingers in and out of Ellis' tight hole before he was shoved backwards. He landed hard against the edge of the tub, a pain shooting up his back. Ellis shot down to his level, mere inches from his face. He remained silent, his breath like a furnace against Nick's face.

"You…" Nick began quietly, just to break the silence. "You said to finish what I started.. I was just making sure you didn't have anything left unclean." He faked a smile, hoping his humour would dissolve the man's anger. He had no idea what penetrating the boy would do, he had only hoped it'd turn out as well as the rest of his touches had tonight.

Ellis' hand shot out and placed a hard slap across Nick's face. "Not. Without. Permission." He spit out, his finger stabbing just between Nick's eyebrows to punctuate each word. He yanked a fist full of the brown hair and pulled the older man up into a rough kiss before shoving him back again. "Wash yourself up and get your ass in bed." Ellis pulled himself out of the tub and grabbed a towel. Running it across his body, making sure Nick could see every flex of his muscles as he dried himself off. He threw the towel onto the counter and headed for the door.

"I'll be waiting" Was all he said before disappearing into the bedroom.

Nick washed himself in silence. His mind was screaming loud enough that, even if there were any sound coming from the other room, it'd have drowned it out. "What the hell was that?" "When did he get so domineering?" "Holy fuck his ass is tight!" "Was I wrong?" "God, I'd risk it all to make love to that man." His mind raged from thought to thought, his body on autopilot as he finished bathing.

Crawling out of the tub and drying himself off, he turned off the light and slowly headed into the bedroom, not quite sure what to expect. Instead of the raging dominator that just left him moments ago, he found Ellis asleep in the bed. He hadn't even bothered to pull the covers over him, his body in full display for Nick's eyes to wander over with his torso pulled taught from his right arm being tucked behind his head. The thought to push his luck and take advantage of the green-eyed beauty crossed his mind. He shook the thought from his mind, too tired and confused to risk it.

Pulling the covers over Ellis' sleeping body, Nick crawled in next to him. Nestling his head into the crook of Ellis' arm, he drifted off to sleep with dreams of Ellis filling his mind.

xxxxx

A/N: Phew, this took a while to write! Sorry folks.. it just didn't want to get out of my brainpan and onto the page. I hope you all like it though!

Komamura's Son: Thank you so much for being my first review! I'm glad you like what I've done so far. I took your advice on the quotation marks and edited the chapter to try and fix them. Hopefully I caught them all! Oh, and I absolutely love that you caught my cake Easter Egg!

Citizen-Kaine: "Supper cute" Aww! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and thought it was cute/awesome! Hopefully this chapter is a little better, in reference to everything we spoke of in PM. ^_^

JadeAnime: SURPRISE BUTTSEX! That.. is totally going to be a line in this story somewhere. :P So, keep an eye out! As for the paragraph about the skin and infection.. yah… My brain is a time traveler. I have a hard time with past/present/future tenses.. :D I think that could be fixed though if I simply move the first line to the above paragraph. I'll have to look again. Thank you for pointing it out!

ADifrentMe: In my best stereotypical gay voice: "Fabulooooouusssss!" Hah, I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for the review! ^_^

Lastly: A thank you to Remy and JadeAnime for the help on my past/present tense time traveling brain issue for this one.

-hides now-