Ray Vecchio sighed and looked at his watch. He was supposed to meet Benny at his apartment after work today. It was Ray's birthday, and his lover had promised him a surprise. Ray had made excuses to his family, but now he was wondering if he should have made excuses to Benny instead. The Mountie had been acting very oddly over the past several weeks. He was away from home a couple of nights a week and refused to say anything about where he spent those nights. Ray supposed it wasn't any of his business, really, but it wasn't like Fraser to be so secretive. He was just a little afraid that his "surprise" was going to be that Benny had a new lover and didn't want him anymore. Well, no more procrastinating. Benny was waiting for him, so he may as well get this over with. He looked at his watch and realized that it had stopped again. He tapped it a few times, played with the winder, and shook it. Finally, he gave up. The watch hadn't been working properly for a long time. He should think about getting a new one sometime, but right now, he was probably late. He started the Riv and headed over to West Racine. Benton Fraser paced his apartment nervously. He'd spent a long time preparing Ray's birthday surprise, and he really hoped that his partner liked it. Benny didn't normally do this kind of thing, but he'd wanted to do something special for Ray, something no one else could do. He wondered how he was going to make it through dinner without giving something away. It had been hard not to tell the detective what he had been planning for the last month. He really wanted to make Ray happy. He heard his lover at the door. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face the Italian. "Happy birthday, Ray!" he said cheerfully and took the other man into his arms. After a few moments of passionate kissing, Ray asked, "So, where's my surprise?" "After dinner, Ray," Benny admonished. "Come and sit down." He led his partner to the table, where he had laid out an elaborate Italian meal. "Aww, Benny, you didn't have to make dinner for me," Ray protested. "Or is this my surprise?" "No, I told you, your surprise comes after dinner. Now give me your glass," and Fraser poured the wine. Dinner was spent in casual conversation about their respective days at work, Ray at the Precinct and Benny at the Consulate. Vecchio could tell that his Canadian friend was nervous about something, and Benny's nervousness heightened his own anxiety. He hadn't expected to have much of an appetite, but the food was excellent, and he found himself cleaning his plate. After tiramisu for dessert, Fraser rose and cleared the table, then held out his hand to Ray. "Come into the living room for your surprise," he said. In the living room, Ray discovered a new CD player in one corner. This was unusual. Benny didn't usually go in for electronics. He didn't even own a working TV set. Or was this a gift from the mystery lover? "I'll be right back," Benny announced, disappearing into his bedroom. When he came out, he was dressed in his red serge uniform. That was *very* odd. Benny never wore his uniform at home. Or did he have to go back to the Consulate for some fancy party tonight? Fraser went to the CD player and put on some music. A "bump and grind" type of song started to play. Then, standing directly in front of Ray, Benny slowly began to unfasten his tunic while swaying slightly in time to the music. "Benny?" said Ray. "Is this ... is this what I think it is?" Fraser smiled. "I've been taking lessons in exotic dancing. I'm going to strip for you, Ray. Sit back and enjoy the show." Ray suddenly felt ashamed. Here he'd almost been ready to accuse Benny of cheating on him, when Benny had been taking dance lessons - *exotic* dance lessons - just to do this for him. Well, he'd be sure to show his appreciation when the "performance" was over. Benny continued his sensuous dance, slowly removing his tunic, pulling down his suspenders and unbuttoning, but not removing, his Henley. Then he came closer, tantalizingly closer, to Ray, finally sitting on his lover's lap, facing him. "I had to sit down to remove my boots," he explained with a devilish grin, slowly grinding his crotch into Ray's. Ray moaned. He could feel Benny's erection pressing into his groin as the Mountie moved slowly against him. "Benny," he finally sighed, "not that I don't enjoy the lap dance, but if you keep it up much longer, this dance will be over before you're finished taking your clothes off." "Understood," said Fraser with a twinkle in his eye. He took his time rising from Ray's lap, dancing directly above him, not quite touching. Ray's cock strained against the prison of his Armani slacks. Noticing Ray's obvious arousal, Benny leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Touch yourself, Ray," he said. "Let me see how much you're enjoying this." Before the Italian could respond, his lover unfastened his pants for him and guided his hand to his lap. Benny continued his dance as Ray stroked himself. He tried not to go too fast, wanting to make this last as long as possible. Fraser's Henley shirt came off, then his undershirt. Finally, the jodphurs were removed, and underneath, instead of the starched boxers the Mountie normally wore, was the smallest, skimpiest pair of bikini briefs Ray had ever seen. And then they were removed and his lover was dancing naked before him. And then Benny began to stroke himself in time to Ray's strokes. Ray couldn't take it anymore. He got up and quickly divested himself of his clothes, then practically dragged his lover to the bed, where he fell on top of him. The music was still playing, and Ray began to thrust against Benny in time to the music. That didn't last long, though, as both men speeded up their movements as they became more and more excited. As the song reached its end both men climaxed, then fell back, exhausted, on the bed. After some time spent cuddling, Benny spoke. "I have something for you, Ray." "You have something else for me? Benny, you've done so much already." Fraser just smiled and kissed him. "Well, this is something a bit more tangible, something you can look at and know it's from me." He got up and went into the other room, then came back holding a small, gift-wrapped package. Opening the box, Ray discovered a brand new watch. He started to put it on his wrist when Benny stopped him. "Read the engraving on the back first." So he turned it over, where he saw the following engraved: "BF & RV. Love forever." Tears in his eyes, Ray threw his arms around the man that he loved and held him tightly. "It's beautiful, Benny. Just like you." END