Page 54 of The Sin Binder's Chains

"Happy now?" I ask, my voice coming out rougher than I mean for it to.

She doesn't answer. Just watches me. Watching her.

Then, because she’s an actual menace, she tilts her head slightly, considering me like she’s trying to figure me out, and drags her lower lip between her teeth.

I almost choke.

Fuck.

I want to blame Silas. Or Riven. Or the gods.

But the truth? The truth is I’m screwed. The weight of her gaze is too much, her presence too much, the unbearable pull between us too much.

Her fingers twitch against the ground like she wants to reach for me, but hasn’t quite decided if she should.

And then because I make terrible decisions, I move first. I shift forward, slow, deliberate, cutting the space between us in half.

Her breath hitches.

The embers floating in the air glow brighter.

She doesn’t pull away.

Neither do I.

The world is stuck in this perfect, impossible moment.

Her eyes drop to my mouth.

I drop my gaze to hers.

Then, because I’m an actual disaster of a man, I murmur, “Told you I could slow the world down, baby.”

And then I kiss her.

The second our mouths meet, the world tilts. It’s instant, electric, shattering, a sudden shift like the ground has dropped out from beneath me, and I’m free-falling straight into her.

I thought I was ready.

I wasn’t.

Luna doesn’t just kiss, she consumes. Her lips move against mine with raw, unfiltered intent, like she’s decided something, like she’s claiming something. And fuck, I feel it everywhere.

I don’t realize I’ve tipped backward until my shoulders hit the dirt. Luna follows, pressing into me, hands braced against my chest, her weight a brand I never want to lose.

My breath stutters, my hands gripping her hips on instinct, and I swear, she smirks against my mouth like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.

Gods, she tastes like fire. Like midnight storms and something sweeter, more dangerous, something made to unravel me from the inside out.

Her fingers curl against my chest, her nails digging in, and I groan against her lips, the sound low, desperate, something I wasn’t ready to hear from myself.

She shifts, pressing closer, and my hands tighten on her waist.

I should have been smug, should have said something stupid, something to break the spell, but for the first time in forever, I have nothing. Nothing but her, and the way she’s kissing me like she’s already won.

She pulls back just enough to steal a breath, her lips brushing against mine, and I chase her like a fucking idiot, catching the curve of her bottom lip between my teeth before she can escape.

Her breath hitches.

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