Page 53 of The Sin Binder's Chains

I clear my throat. “What do I look like, Mother Nature?”

She hums, kicking her feet up behind her, swaying them just enough to be distracting. “More like a useless party trick.”

I scoff. “Party trick? Excuse me, but I just made fire take a nap. That’s some high-level bullshit.”

She grins. “Okay, Sloth God, I’m waiting.”

Gods. She’s so pretty when she smiles like that. Too pretty. It’s a problem.

I rub the back of my neck, trying to focus on anything other than how close she is, how the firelight dances across her skin, how my brain keeps short-circuiting in her presence.

“Yeah, well,” I mutter, “maybe I just don’t feel like putting a whole damn forest to sleep right now.”

She raises a brow. “Is that because you can’t?”

Oh, she’s baiting me now. And like a complete idiot, I take it.

I push up on my elbows, leaning in just enough to let my smirk curl at the edges. “Oh, I can, baby. I can make the entire world slow down if I want to.”

Her lips part slightly, just enough that my brain starts thinking things it shouldn’t be thinking.

And then, because the universe hates me, she shifts again, propping herself up on her elbows, her body just close enough to mine that I can feel her warmth against my skin.

And her shirt rides up further.

Fuck.

I see more than I should.

More than is safe for me right now.

I snap my gaze to the fire, anywhere but her, dragging a hand down my face like that’s going to somehow wipe away the overwhelming need to bolt into the woods and dunk myself in a freezing lake.

She just grins wider, eyes flashing with mischief and challenge and something else that makes my stomach twist.

“Well?” she says, voice dipping into something damn near sinful. “Do it, Elias. Show me.”

I swallow, my mouth suddenly too dry.

“Yeah,” I croak. “Uh… totally.”

I exhale slowly, flexing my fingers, letting my power unfurl like a languid stretch through the air. The fire flickers, then freezes mid-flame, embers suspended midair like glowing shards of time itself. The leaves stop rustling, frozen in mid-sway. The wind? Gone. Even the distant sounds of the night, crickets, the snap of branches, the whisper of unseen creatures, all of it grinds to a silent halt.

Everything is still.

Everything except us.

Luna inhales sharply, her lips parting, her gaze sweeping over the unnatural stillness around us. Her breath is warm against my skin, and I make the very, very stupid decision to look at her.

Big mistake.

She’s too close. She’s always too close.

Her eyes, wide, burning with fascination, snap to mine, and I can feel it. That pull, that inescapable gravity dragging me toward her like I’m caught in the orbit of something I was never meant to touch.

She shifts, just enough that the hem of her shirt rides up a fraction more, exposing smooth, golden skin. The firelight, frozen in place, casts a soft glow over her face, making her look like something sacred, untouchable.

I swallow hard, forcing my gaze back to hers.

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