“We need a bed,” she said and he nodded and took her hand and followed her across the room.

They didn’t quite make it to the bed, though, because one of the candles illuminated Dan’s face, catching it unarmed and she had to stop and stroke his cheek, to try to, with the tips of her fingers, redraw it into the face of a young man who knew only hopes and dreams and joy. She kept her eyes on him as she unbuttoned his shirt and he smiled at her and this time she saw the emotion that should always accompany the action and she was glad.

Then she let her fingers roam across the hard muscles of his chest, let her lips taste the skin there. She felt his heart beating hard against her mouth, his dog tags shiver, heard the quick gasp of breath as her fingers found the top of his hipbones.

She turned around so he could unfasten her dress. Once he’d done so, he slipped his hands into the open back and ran them down her spine, touching her skin so gently, so lightly that she closed her eyes, adoring the sensation of being held in a reverent way.

At last, he moved the dress over her hips, where it fell to the floor. He brought his hands around to drift over her stomach, traveling up to her breasts in a slow and glorious dance. Finally he touched one nipple and then the other, lingering, touch firmer now, taking his time. Then he began to kiss her neck, her shoulder, the top of her back and she spun around because she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Her mouth found his and he moved his hands down to her panties, slipping them off, before lifting her, legs wrapped around him, and carrying her to the bed, where he laid her down.

“You have too many clothes on,” she whispered.

“I can fix that,” he whispered back, shucking everything off.

The candles still shone and she hadn’t drawn the drapes so she could see by the moonlight that he was as aroused as she. She reached out for him, wanting him beside her, wanting her hands and mouth on him. She kissed his chest; she could lie there and kiss that chest forever, she thought, but he had other ideas and he slipped a hand between her legs, which made her inhale sharply and say, “Mmmm, you can do that again.”

He smiled again and he almost sounded like the old Dan when he said, “Good to see you’re as unabashed in bed as you are everywhere else.”

She laughed. “Would you prefer I didn’t tell you what feels good?”

“No. Tell me. Because this is all about feeling good.” His fingers found her breast again.

“Well, perhaps your mouth could follow where your hand is leading,” she said.

“Jess.” He spoke her name in a voice thick with desire and that was it; as if they both agreed they couldn’t wait any longer.