Page 131 of The Sin Binders Ascent

“Can I lean on you?”

It’s not coy. Not hesitant. It’s honest in that way only she can be, all need, no shame. And maybe she doesn’t realize it, but it guts me. The way she asks. The way she looks at me now is like I’m something she can trust, even if just for a moment. Something she canlean on.

“Yeah,” I say, and my voice comes out lower than I mean it to. “Yeah. Of course.”

She shifts without waiting for more. Crawls the short space between us and lowers herself with that same tired sigh, this one quieter, more content. She doesn’t sitnextto me, not beside or close enough to tease. She settlesbetweenmy legs, her back against my chest, her head tucked under my chin like we’ve done this a hundred times already.

I don’t move. I don’t breathe, not at first. I justfeel. Feel the shape of her spine fitting into the curve of my body. Feel the way her hair brushes my throat, damp and soft and smelling like wind and smoke. Feel the warmth of her arms resting against her stomach, relaxed. Trusting.

This isn’t seduction.

This is something more dangerous.

My hands hover, caught in the indecision between not wanting to ruin this and needing to hold her so badly that my chest aches with it. After a second, I let them rest gently against her hips. Not possessive. Just there. Just real.

“This okay?” I murmur against the top of her head, the words brushing her skin.

She nods slowly. “It’s the most comfortable I’ve been in weeks.”

And fuck, that does something to me. I swallow it down. Let my thumb trace the line of her waist, carefully. Reverent. I keep the rest of me still, even though my mind’s already gone ten miles past this, wondering if she hears how fast her nearness turns my blood to wildfire.

The rain outside the alcove hasn’t stopped. It’s a steady curtain now, dense and silver, and the sound of it fills the space around us. It should be cold, but her body is warm against mine. Steady. And I swear, for a minute, this whole cursed place doesn’t feel like it’s trying to tear us apart anymore.

Her breathing evens out. Her fingers play absently with the edge of my sleeve, not conscious of it, just idle motion that kills me in the quietest way. Her legs curl a little closer toward herself. She’s safe. She’swith me. And I realize that if the gods tore open the sky right now and dragged her out of my arms, I’d burn every realm they’d ever created just to find her again.

And still, I don’t kiss her. I want her to ask again. For something more. Anything. Because if she does, if she leans just a little more into me, gives me even the smallest opening, I will give her every piece of myself like I was made to.

Her head turns, cheek brushing the fabric of my shirt as she tucks her face into the crook of my neck. Her breath ghosts over my skin, warm and steady, and then she exhales this soft little huff that punches straight through my spine.

“Why do you smell good?” she mutters, voice thick with annoyance, like it’soffensivethat I could possibly still smell like anything but sweat and dirt and blood.

I feel her nose drag up the column of my neck. Not a full nuzzle. Not tender. Just a lazy, absent-minded motion like she’s cataloging me with her senses because she can’t help it. And I am going to fuckingcombust.

Her breath skims the edge of my jaw now, and my fingers twitch against her waist before I force them still again. My jaw clenches. My chest feels too small for my heart. She’s draped against me like she’s tired and safe andcomfortable, and then she goes and does that.

“Seriously,” she says, a little clearer now. “You should smell like old leather and regret. Instead, it’s…” She sniffs again. I barely hold in a groan. “It’s like smoke and something spicy and… rain? Is that rain? That’s not fair. You don’t get to smell like rain.”

“I didn’t realize it was a privilege,”

She laughs softly, the sound buzzing against my throat. “It’s distracting.”

“You say that like it’s aproblem.”

“Maybe it is.”

Her hand drifts along my thigh as she adjusts her position. Nothing deliberate. Just lazy pressure as she pulls her legs in closer, her body curling tighter into mine, and I can feel every inch of her along my front. Her back pressed to my chest. Her hips nestled perfectly between my legs.

I close my eyes. Just for a moment. Because I can’t look at her like this without the instinct totakeclawing up from the pit of me.

She smells like pine sap and scorched leaves and something sweeter underneath it all, like figs left too long in the sun. Like temptation grown wild. She’s been half-feral for weeks, cursingat the wind, snapping at every obstacle, refusing to give up, and yet here she is, in my arms, tracing her nose up my neck like this is justwhat we do now.

And I’m supposed to pretend I’m unaffected.

I shift slightly, just enough to breathe deeper, slower, so I don’t ruin this.

“So,” I say quietly, mouth close to her temple, “you’re telling me I’m distracting whileyouare the one burrowing into my neck like a cat in heat?”

Her elbow jabs back into my ribs.

---