Carrie and Keith 14

Carrie laughed out loud. "Boy, I'm really transparent, aren't I?" and she laughed again. Keith could not help but smile. "It's my birthday," Carrie said and looked at him coyly over her glass as she took another sip of wine.

"You weren't going to tell me," Keith accused.

"It doesn't matter. What I wanted most was to spend some time with you."

Keith felt his heart skip a beat. He took another swallow of his wine. A big swallow.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Carrie asked after the salads arrived.

"No." Keith shook his head. "I just wish you would have told me."

The meal was terrific. There was more than enough food and they shared a piece of Tirami Su with their coffee for dessert.

When they pulled up in front of Keith's house, he touched her arm. "Come inside. I have something for you." he said.

"OK," she said and put the car in park.

When they got in, he said, "Have a seat. I'll be right back."

Keith walked into his bedroom and sat down at his desk. He had drawn a picture from Carrie's story in charcoal. It was of Joryant weathering the rock storm and the dragon looking at the bottoms of his feet for Joryant's remains. He hadn't planned on giving it to her today, but it worked out well anyway. He put the picture into a frame he had bought and stood up to bring it out to her.

He found her seated on the sofa, scarf off, looking up at the ceiling. She sat forward when he entered the room. He sat down beside her and handed her the frame face down.

"I'd have wrapped it if I had known it was your birthday," he said.

She turned it over "Oh!" she gasped. "It's awesome. Thank you," she said, smiling at him. She pulled him toward her and kissed his cheek. He touched her cheek and she turned to receive his kiss on her lips. He felt her shiver before he pulled away.

He looked at her for a moment and took the frame from her, laying it on the coffee table. "Come here," he said and tugged on her arm. She stood up and turned around to straddle his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like she meant it.

They were both breathing hard when they broke the kiss. Keith kissed her throat and felt her moan as much as he heard it. He slipped his hands under her shirt and felt the cool skin of her back under his palms. She bent to kiss him under his ear and sent goosebumps running down his back.

The next kiss was deeper. He ran his hands farther up her back until he felt her bra. He noted that there were not hooks on the back. He kissed her throat again as she arched her back and started to slide his hands around to the front.

Carrie sat back from him and let him touch her. She watched as his thumbs caressed her and she gasped a little. He looked up and found himself looking into her eyes.

"Do you have... I mean, I don't..." She stammered, her face bright red.

He covered her mouth with his fingers. "Yeah. Let me up." he whispered.

A moment later, they were walking into the bedroom. Keith closed the door behind them.