Page 14 of The Sin Binder's Chains

Lucien levels me with a dead stare. “It does not.”

Luna smirks. “I’d bet my life it doesn’t.”

I grin because it’s the only defense I have left. “You wanna touch me again and find out?”

Lucien groans.

Luna? She just laughs. And fuck me, I think that might be worse.

Lucien rides ahead, posture straight-backed and perfect, probably thinking about how he’d rather be anywhere else than here, with me acting like an absolute dumbass. I can feel his irritation radiating off him like heat, a constant, simmering disapproval that would almost be funny if I weren’t also busy suffering.

I’m usually good at this. Smooth. Effortless. Charming in a way that gets me exactly what I want without ever costing me anything. But around her? Every single word that comes out of my mouth is a crime against language itself.

I need backup.

I need Silas.

That bastard is so much worse than me, so profoundly, violently cringe, that whenever he’s around, I get to look normal in comparison. Which is a goddamn miracle considering I’ve just spent the last five minutes internally losing my mind because Luna’s hands were on my thighs.

But no. Silas isn’t here.

It’s just me. And Lucien.

And Lucifer’s golden fucking prodigy is currently providing exactly zero distractions from the fact that Luna is still close enough that I can count the individual strands of hair whipping against my jaw.

I exhale, trying to will myself back to sanity. It doesn’t work.

Luna shifts slightly, adjusting her grip on the reins, and it’s just too much.

My mouth moves before my brain can stop it.

“So, uh,” I start, immediately regretting it. “What’s your policy on cuddling?”

Lucien makes a noise like he wants to pretend he didn’t hear me, but physically cannot.

Luna goes still. And then, slowly, turns her head to look at me.

Her expression is pure, distilled exhaustion. “I beg your fucking pardon?”

I force a grin, shoving my absolute shame into a deep, repressed hole where all my worst decisions go to die. “I just think,” I say, very conversationally, “that given the circumstances, a little closeness wouldn’t be the worst thing. You know. For safety.”

Luna stares at me for a long moment, then, slowly, deliberately, leans forward instead of back. Which, okay, not what I was expecting. She’s so close now that when she speaks, I can feel her breath against my throat.

“Elias,” she murmurs, voice low, dangerous, deadly.

I swallow. “Yeah?”

“If you don’t shut up,” she whispers, sweet as poison, “I will throw you off this fucking horse.”

I make the absolute worst decision.

I wink. “Kinky.”

Luna shoves me. The horse swerves. And for one glorious moment, I almost do fall to my well-earned death.

Silas. Hurry the fuck up and get back here.

What I need to be is smooth. Effortless. Dangerous in that irresistible, bad-decision-you’ll-thank-me-for-later kind of way. What I need to do is say something so devastatingly charming, so obscenely suave, that Luna Evernight finally, finally looks at me like I’m more than just a walking disaster with good hair.

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