Sweet Hatred Chapter 244: Back home

ARIA

I didn’t rember falling asleep.

But I rembered him.

The way he moved inside .

The weight of his body.

The way he whispered my na like a secret no one else deserved.

I turned slowly, the ache between my thighs a dull, constant reminder of every way he touched last night. My legs were still trembling faintly under the sheets. My hips ached. My throat felt dry.

And Kael was gone.

The space next to was cold.

I sat up slowly, squinting against the morning light bleeding through the curtains. The sun was up—fully up. My skin felt sticky. My muscles sluggish. I had no idea what ti it was. Could’ve been noon. Could’ve been ten minutes past dawn.

I reached for my phone on the nightstand.

One new ssage.

Unknown number.

Hey sad girl, you still alive?

I blinked.

Then rolled my eyes with a sigh.

"Of course it’s him," I muttered.

I typed back quickly.

_Let guess. Ash gave you my number?_

A second later, the reply ca in.

_Technically I stole it off her phone but she’ll survive. Might hit though._

I snorted under my breath. That was... not even surprising.

Sylas was like if a beige flag ca to life, wore designer suits, and smirked like he invented flirting. I saved his number.

Another ping.

_Are you with Kael?_

I hesitated before typing back.

_Sothing like that. Practically on lockdown in his suite._

_Should I co rescue you?_

I stared at the ssage, thumb hovering over the keyboard. The audacity wasn’t even shocking. It was textbook Sylas, playful, taunting, probably too aware of how complicated this all was.

But I didn’t have to answer.

Because the bedroom door clicked open.

I jerked my head up.

Kael walked in.

Towel sat low around his hips. Hair damp. Chest still wet from the shower, drops of water gliding over hard, defined muscle like sin on marble. He looked like he hadn’t slept. Like he didn’t need to.

He was carrying a tray.

I blinked. "I thought you weren’t back."

"I’ve been back for a while," he said calmly, setting the tray down on a nearby table. "Went to get sothing for you to eat. Thought you’d wake up hungry."

He picked up a slice of mango, golden, ripe, glistening and walked to , every step deliberate.

My mouth went dry. Not from hunger.

He sat on the edge of the bed, held my chin gently between his fingers, and brought the fruit to my lips.

"How’re you feeling?" he asked, voice low and soft, like he wasn’t the sa man who split in half last night and executed soone hours ago.

I parted my lips.

He fed .

The juice spilled slightly down my chin, and before I could reach up to wipe it, Kael leaned in.

His tongue followed the drop down my skin, slow, warm, intentional.

And my whole body rembered everything he did to .

The mango was sweet, but his tongue chasing the juice down my chin tasted better.

I smacked his chest lightly, grumbling through a mouthful. "You treat my hoo-ha like a war zone."

Kael arched one dark brow, utterly unfazed. "That’s funny."

"It’s true," I muttered, licking the corner of my lip. "You storm in like you’re conducting a siege."

His voice dipped, soft and thick. "You an like how I made you squirt so hard the sheets are still wet?"

I choked. "That’s not what I—"

"You’re pretending like you didn’t beg for it," he murmured, thumb tracing the edge of my jaw. "Like you didn’t moan my na so many tis it stopped sounding real."

My thighs pressed together instinctively. Stupid traitors.

"You disappeared like a ghost," I huffed, trying to shift the subject. "Could’ve at least left a note."

He leaned in, lips brushing mine. "Missed ?"

"Never." My voice caught.

He smirked, and nipped my bottom lip. Just hard enough to make gasp.

But before I could retaliate with sothing sassy, my phone pinged from the nightstand.

Kael’s head turned. His entire body stilled.

He reached out without asking and picked it up.

The screen lit up.

Sylas: Still waiting for your rescue call, sad girl.

His jaw clenched.

"Why is he texting you?"

I sat up straighter, suddenly feeling the air shift. "I didn’t give him my number."

He didn’t say anything. Just stared at the screen like he could lt it.

I sighed. "Look, he probably swiped it from Ash’s phone or sothing, he said as much. Besides, we’re just friends."

Kael’s frown deepened.

Here we go.

"You can’t keep doing this," I said sharply. "You act like any man who breathes near is planning to steal away."

"I don’t."

"You do," I shot back. "You give them all that death glare. You’re doing it right now just at the ntion of Sylas."

"That’s how I look at people normally," he said dryly.

I rolled my eyes. "You’re impossible."

I tossed the sheet off and tried to slide out of bed, muttering, "I’m not doing this before breakfast—"

But before I made it halfway, he grabbed the end of the sheet and yanked.

I yelped, flailing as I was dragged right back into his lap like a poorly wrapped burrito.

"Kael—!"

He said nothing. Just sat there like gravity incarnate while I glared at him, half tangled in cotton and male ego.

"Let go," I snapped, wriggling against his arms. "You’re suffocating."

"Stop moving," he murmured into my ear, voice low enough to shake sothing loose inside . "Unless you want to pin you face-down and teach you how to behave."

I stilled.

He nuzzled behind my ear. "If you keep misbehaving, Aria..."

His hand dragged down my back, firm and unyielding.

"I’ll be forced to punish you. Again. And again. Until you learn."

My whole body flushed.

My mouth opened.

Then closed.

He was smug. I could feel it in the way his breath hit my neck.

And God help ...

I was already wet again.

"You’re threatening with another round?" I scoffed, still squirming in his lap like I had a choice. "Wow. So original."

Kael didn’t answer.

He just held there, gaze cool and unreadable, towel still clinging low around his hips, muscles shifting beneath like coiled steel.

"You really think I’m scared of you?" I taunted.

"Mm." His lips brushed my jaw. "Not yet."

"I’m not one of your n, Kael," I said, lifting my chin. "You can’t just bark and expect to bend."

He humd again, so soft it made shiver.

"I an it," I added, voice sharper. "You don’t get to control who texts . Or who looks at . Or—"

His fingers slipped between my thighs.

I froze.

Just like that, I forgot what I was saying.

He found already wet. Soaked.

I felt the smirk on his lips before he even spoke. "You were saying sothing about control?"

I narrowed my eyes, desperate to sound unaffected. "That’s just biology. Has nothing to do with you."

Kael chuckled darkly. "Liar."

Before I could snap back, he moved.

Fast.

I was flipped onto my stomach, the sheet dragged off, my hips yanked up until I was arched for him, face pressed into the mattress.

I gasped. "Kael—!"

"Be still," he said, voice low, firm, so calm it made my stomach twist.

His hand ca down on my ass. Once. Twice. Just enough to sting. Just enough to warn.

"You want to test how long you can last with that mouth?" he murmured behind , his fingers slipping between my folds again. "You want to see how long you can hold out before you’re sobbing into these sheets?"

My breath hitched.

"You wanna be brave, Aria? Go ahead. Be brave."

I bit my lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a sound.

He pushed in.

All of him.

No pause.

I scread into the mattress, hands clawing at the bed as he filled in one brutal thrust.

He didn’t wait.

He started moving.

Ruthless.

Deep.

Steady.

The way only he knew how. The way that shattered every ti.

"Still got sothing to say?" he whispered against my spine.

I whimpered. My throat burned. My hands fisted the sheets.

"Didn’t think so."

He fucked hard enough to drown every thought. My sass, my anger, my pride, gone. Torn apart by every rciless thrust as he pounded deeper into the mattress.

And when I started sobbing, not from pain, but from the unbearable pleasure he forced into every inch of , he didn’t stop.

He just kissed the tears from my cheek.

And kept going.

The private jet touched down with barely a bump.

Smooth. Precise. Like everything Kael Roman touched.

But my stomach still twisted.

Ho.

The word felt heavy.

Even as the island disappeared behind us and the chaos of the past day faded into mory, I couldn’t relax.

Not with Olivia on my mind.

Not when the mont the wheels hit the runway, my phone started buzzing again, texts, missed calls, work updates. And not just .

Kael was already on his third call before we even stepped out of the aircraft. His voice sharp, low, slicing through international ti zones like butter.

My chest felt tight the second I saw my apartnt building co into view.

This was it.

My world.