Page 48 of The Sin Binder's Destiny

Her eyes glimmer, hopeful. “Are you open to a third again?”

I blink. “What?”

Silas snorts, full-on delighted chaos now. “She wants to join the marriage, Eli.”

“Absolutely not,” I say flatly.

Esmara pouts, her smile turning coy. “You don’t have to answer now.”

Silas wiggles his brows at me behind her. “We could use some help in the tree fort.”

I glance skyward, willing myself to keep breathing. “I will murder you.”

He grins, utterly unbothered. “I love when you talk dirty.”

Esmara takes a deliberate step closer, that smile still syrupy sweet but edged with something jagged, something desperate. “You know,” she says, her gaze flicking from me to Silas and back again, “I always wondered what it would’ve felt like. The three of us.”

Silas makes a soft choking noise beside me, and I glare at him before snapping my eyes back to her. “That’s… an unsettling thing to say.”

She shrugs, unapologetic, voice dipping into something coy. “I don’t think it’s unsettling at all. I mean, look at you two. All that brooding energy and nowhere to put it.”

Silas snorts. “Oh, we’ve got places to put it, sweetheart. None of them involve you.”

She ignores him entirely, her eyes pinned to me like a cat sizing up a trapped mouse. “You married him to keep me away. That’s what this is.”

I don’t even blink. “Exactly.”

Silas jumps in, far too delighted. “He proposed after the third orgy. Real tearjerker.”

Esmara hums, unconvinced but wildly entertained by herself. “And I suppose you both consummated it after?”

Silas, the bastard, doesn’t miss a beat. “Twice. Once in a tree fort.”

I elbow him hard, but he grins wider.

She sways closer, lashes lowering. “You could’ve invited me.”

I look at Silas like he’s my last lifeline. “We should go.”

Silas nods fervently. “Yeah. Gotta… uh… braid each other’s hair.”

“Reinforce the tree fort,” I mutter under my breath, already backing away.

Esmara follows a step, her smile stretching far too wide. “Oh, I can help. I’m very good with wood.”

Silas wheezes beside me. “You heard the lady, Eli. She’s good with wood.”

I shoot him a look that promises death.

Esmara’s eyes gleam like she’s hunting. “I can stay tonight.”

Silas’s grin cracks. “Nope. Sorry. Full house.”

I raise a brow at him. “Really? That’s your excuse?”

He shrugs helplessly. “It was that or telling her we have matching pajamas.”

Esmara’s smile sharpens. “I’d love to see you both in matching pajamas.”

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