While he focused on her laces, Sera gently ran her hand down Dempsey's side. She was not in any particular rush, and touched him without any substantial aims — she wanted to be close to him, and to touch him with the same tenderness that he was offering her. With the distant music, and the moonlight shining on them both, it felt like a night for tenderness.

A gasp escaped her mouth when Dempsey's lips touched her collarbone; not because it was particularly arousing, but because no one had kissed her there before. "Yes, touch me," she echoed, moving one of her hands under his jacket and resting her fingers on his side. She could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt, and rolled her body just slightly so that she could face him better.