Her pulse gives a sudden, wild leap, and the familiar gesture does not go unnoticed. Lightning flashes outside again, and she too moves a slight distance closer. The tips of her toes curl against the carpeting, and Irene tilts her chin up further, allowing herself a closer view of his face. His eyes are just visible by the room's candlelight, and his touch is warm, perhaps surprisingly so, against her skin.

As thunder booms outside again, Irene Adler lifts her free hand towards Sherlock's face. Her fingers, curled towards her palm, move across the high arch of his cheek. The pad of her thumb brushes across the corner of his mouth.

"There's time," she says, her voice nearly lost to the thunder's sound. Her fingers uncurl and her palm rests against his skin. "We have time."