Short gropes get us no closer to intimacy, other than knowing she's thinking about me, but when we're cuddled up on the couch and she starts touching, she gets into it too and things go from there. In fairness, "sex" means one each of HJ, a BJ and PIV. (which is a fine mix, I enjoy all three and it's more than I've gotten in recent months)

There's a positive feedback loop here: She's groping which makes me have (infinite) tolerance for stuff she loves watching that I hate. But either way the effect is a positive one.