There was such gentleness in this. No rush to disrobe and no urgent pawing at each other's bodies. He tried to avoid that anyway, but it stood out to him now that she had asked about the bodice laces. The question gave such an importance, such attention, to a moment that could have passed without a thought.

"I would," he agreed, with a surge of unexpected affection. They barely knew each other, practically speaking; he shouldn't be feeling anything particularly about loosening a single layer of her wardrobe which wouldn't even leave her skin exposed. But she had offered it like it was precious, and now he was feeling precious about it. He shifted so that he was leaning next to her on the roof — he could have straddled her lap just as easily, but that was a threshold she hadn't yet invited him to cross — and gave her laces his full attention. Undoing them had little effect at first on her silhouette as a whole, but once he'd worked his way down to her waist the dress as a whole was loose enough that he could slide the neckline off the edge of her shoulder. He brushed his fingers over her collarbone, looking her over appreciatively, then leaned in to kiss her there.

"Let me touch you," he breathed. He was already touching her, technically, but he thought she would know what he was asking for.

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   Seraphina Bythesea