Sweet Hatred Chapter 171: Rain

KAEL

The rain started as a whisper.

A soft patter against the glass. Then louder. Heavier. Until the sky split open again in a growl of lightening thunder, and water ca down in sheets, crashing against the windows of the villa like it had sothing to prove.

The water turned dark, angry, violent. Wind howled like a feral thing in the distance. And all I could think about... was how much I hated the rain.

It reminded of everything I worked so hard to bury.

The day my mother died, while her body was wheeled into the ambulance, it rained afterwards like this—rciless and cold. The kind of downpour that seeped into your bones and stayed there. The kind of rain that makes you feel like the world’s punishing you for surviving.

And Ivan... God, Ivan. He bled out under a broken sky just like this, after the explosion and the gun fires that rained on us. I remained still unable to move, bleeding out while it poured heavily on us. I’d held his hand as thunder cracked overhead and his blood ward my fingers.

My knee ached too, dull and persistent. The ghost of a bullet wound, long healed, but never forgotten. Pain flared in that familiar way, almost like a warning. As if my body knew to brace itself for mories I’d tried to silence.

But even as the storm raged on, I felt... calm.

Because behind , Aria was still here.

She stood near and that look on her face, the one she wore when she thought too much and said too little. I knew she was still upset about earlier. About my birthday.

And I hated how much I liked that.

She was mad I didn’t tell her. Sad, even. Like it mattered to her.

It wasn’t sothing I ever gave a damn about. My birthday was a date I barely rembered unless soone else reminded . Ivan used to make it impossible to forget—cheap frosted cupcakes, party hats he forced onto my head, candles I was ordered to blow out while rolling my eyes. It was ridiculous. Silly.

It was the last ti it ever felt like sothing worth smiling about.

So I stopped celebrating. Stopped caring.

But now, watching Aria so full of emotion over it, for , I felt sothing loosen inside . Sothing I didn’t know was wound that tightly.

She made it matter. She made matter.

And fuck, if that didn’t terrify in the most beautiful, destructive way.

I think I just fell a little deeper for her. Again.

And before today I’d watched her for weeks. Worrying.

Since the burial. Since the final shovel of dirt hit the coffin. Even when her estranged father showed up. She hadn’t cried. Not where I could see, at least. She just... moved through it. Quietly. Calmly. The kind of grief that doesn’t scream, just quietly dismantles you piece by piece when no one’s looking.

And I saw it. I felt it.

Even when she smiled, it never quite reached her eyes. Even when she laughed, it always sounded a little too light, like it might float away if I reached for it.

But tonight—tonight she seed... a little more okay. Still tender around the edges, but not bleeding. Her eyes t mine without trembling. Her voice didn’t shake.

And that did sothing to too.

I didn’t even notice I was staring until she walked toward the glass wall, rain streaking like silver threads down the surface. "I like the rain, it’s my favorite weather," she said, her voice softer than the thunder. "Especially at night. It gets super cozy."

I blinked, lips twitching. "We could get cozy too."

I waited for the glare. The snort. The biting sarcasm.

But when she looked at , her eyes didn’t narrow, they searched. Her lips parted. And her voice ca quieter, almost unsure. "Do you want us to?"

My breath seized. I didn’t answer with words. Not imdiately.

Instead, I reached for the comm device sitting on a stool beside and pressed the button. "Tell the chef I want a cake—rich, extravagant, and flawless. And bring wine. The finest we have. I expect it promptly."

I didn’t wait for a reply from the other end as I turned back to her just as the surprise flickered across her face.

Then I moved.

Lifted her into my arms like it was nothing. Her breath stuttered, arms instinctively curling around my neck. And I said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world:

"It’s all I ever want."

The bedroom was dimly lit, golden shadows stretching across the white walls. The storm outside raged harder now, wind moaning, rain slamming against the windows—but it was like it all faded the mont I laid her down on the bed.

I peeled off my coat and let it drop to the floor.

Climbed over her slowly, the mattress dipping beneath my weight. Our faces hovered inches apart, breath mingling, the heat between us thick and heavy.

And then she whispered, a sly little spark in her voice. "I just realized you haven’t kissed at all since you got back. Is the world ending or sothing?"

I smirked, brushing my knuckles along her jaw. "I decided not to be selfish this ti. Thought I’d let you co to first."

Her brows lifted, eyes gleaming in the dark. "Seriously?"

I didn’t get to answer.

Because her hands were already in my hair, tugging, pulling. Her mouth t mine like it belonged there, like it had been waiting days, weeks, maybe forever. Just like I was.

And just like that, I was gone again.

Her lips t mine and the world went still.

Not quiet, still. Like the air had thickened and the rain outside didn’t matter anymore. Like her mouth on mine beca the only storm I could feel.

Aria kissed like she was hungry for sothing buried deep inside my chest. And I gave it to her. Without hesitation. Without air.

Her lips moved with a rhythm I’d morized and forgotten a thousand tis. Her fingers curled tighter in my hair, her back arching beneath . And I couldn’t help it, I sighed into her mouth, one hand slipping beneath her shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin burn into my palm.

The kiss deepened, fast and frantic and filthy. Tongues tangling. Teeth grazing. We were so far down each other’s throats I wasn’t sure where I ended and she began.

She moaned when I shifted my hips forward, and it wrecked . It wrecked .

I dragged my mouth away from hers, lips trailing down her jaw, her neck. I kissed her like I was starving. And maybe I was. Maybe I always had been. Her breath hitched again when I sucked gently at her pulse, and I felt her fingers tighten against my back.

I should’ve stopped there. It didn’t always have to be like this.

I should’ve left it there. I didn’t want this to be the only thing we had.

But when I pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, my breath ca ragged and uneven. "Aria... we shouldn’t. Not like this."

Her brows knit, lips parted. "Why not?"

I exhaled slowly, forcing every ounce of control back into my chest. "Because I don’t want you thinking this is all we do when things feel intense. When you’re hurting. I don’t want you to feel like you have to—"

"Kael," she breathed.

And then her hands were on my belt. Pulling. Tugging.

Dragging closer until I could feel the heat of her even through my pants.

"Just shut up and kiss ."

My restraint snapped. For a mont. Gone. Just like that. One second I was trying to be good for her, the next I was kissing her again like she was oxygen and I’d been suffocating for months.

Her thighs shifted beneath , wrapping around my hips. Her hips rolled up once, and I lost the rhythm of my thoughts entirely. Her fingers found the opening of my shirt and slipped beneath it, nails trailing fire across my skin.

But I pulled away again, panting, forehead pressed to hers. My voice ca low and strained. "Maybe we... can just cuddle."

She froze.

And then she gave that look.

That look—soft and still and so fucking dangerous. Her lashes low, her lips parted like she was waiting for to devour her. Like she wanted to.

I gripped the sheets tight with one hand to keep myself anchored.

But then her voice ca out, calm, delicate, and absolutely lethal.

"Are you going to make beg?"

Fuck.

My grip loosened. My soul floated. My logic packed its bags and left the room.

I exhaled sharply as I grabbed her face, my mouth crashing back into hers like I had no choice left. And maybe I didn’t. Because when she kissed back, whimpering into my mouth, I knew...

This woman owned . Every molecule of my body, my soul.