Sweet Hatred
Chapter 108: Vacation

Chapter 108: Vacation

"Most men carry their women bridal-style, you know," I huffed. "But you? You just throw me over your shoulder like I’m a damn sack of potatoes."

He didn’t even blink. Just shut the car door, rounded to the driver’s side, and slid in with maddening calm.

"So you’re admitting you’re mine?" he said, voice low and smug.

I blinked, stunned—realizing too late I’d walked straight into that one. Unable to respond, I shot him a glare instead.

As the engine started, I glanced back at the window. My family was pressed to the glass—Kaleb waving wildly, Olivia mouthing something rude, and my mom trying not to laugh.

I flipped them off through the glass with a smug little smirk.

Kael glanced over. "Family send-off?"

"Something like that." I muttered dreading that they saw.

He reached for my hand, pressing a kiss and I didn’t stop him.

I folded into the passenger seat with the tiniest pout still clinging to my face. He hadn’t stopped smirking since the moment I locked the front door behind me.

Kael Roman was in a mood. Dangerous. Caffeinated on control and just a little too smug for someone who disappeared for two weeks.

The engine purred like a spoiled cat as he took off into the night, one hand on the wheel, the other reaching over to rest on my thigh like it belonged there. (It kinda did. Unfortunately.)

We didn’t speak much.

I didn’t ask where we were going. I thought I knew.

The road curved, city lights trailing behind us like spilled glitter. And then... we passed the turn to his penthouse.

My brows knitted. "Uhh... Kael?"

"Hmm?"

"You missed the turn."

"No, I didn’t."

A pause. Then—

"...Where are we going?"

He didn’t even blink. "Vacation."

I blinked for him. "Vacation?"

"Mhmm."

"At one in the morning?"

"Time is relative."

My jaw unhinged. "Kael. KAEL. You absolute madman."

He glanced at me, amused. "You sound surprised."

"Because I am, you lunatic! Who just—kidnaps someone for a spontaneous vacation?"

He gave a thoughtful hum. "Technically, I said I was stealing you. You had warning."

I made a sound that was half groan, half laughter and all frustration. "You’re out of your damn mind, Roman."

He turned toward me at a red light, the faintest grin tugging at his mouth. "And yet... you’re still here."

God help me—I was. And the worst part? I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled into a sleek, quiet terminal that screamed money. A black-and-white private jet sat waiting on the tarmac like it had been expecting me. Because it had. A whole new jet, different from the one we often used for work trips. And that was the moment I realized: I wasn’t going back home tonight. I was leaving the continent—with him.

I stood there at the foot of the stairs, staring at the jet like it might grow a mouth and swallow me whole.

"You are aware I’m wearing pajamas, right?" I said, gesturing vaguely at my fuzzy pants and oversized hoodie like it proved a point. "This is not jet-set attire."

Kael didn’t even glance back. "And yet, you’re still the best-dressed person I’ve ever flown with."

"Liar."

He looked over his shoulder with that smile. "Get in the plane, Aria."

So I did.

The inside looked like something out of a poor man’s fever dream. No matter how much I’d been inside one, I could never get used to it. Cream leather, golden accents, a literal king-sized bed tucked into the back cabin. Of course.

As we reached inside the room, a flight attendant approached us with a bow Kael barely acknowledged.

"I’ll take it from here," he said, waving a hand like royalty.

"Sir, I—"

He cut her off. "Out. All of you."

And they listened. Of course they did. Because Kael Roman wasn’t just some guy with a jet—he was the guy who owned the damn sky.

I sank into the plush bed, pulling the soft blanket over my legs like it could shield me from the insanity of Kael and everything he stirred inside me.

I barely had a moment to breathe before he shrugged off his coat with that same practiced grace that made my stomach flutter. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, sleeves rolled up—casual, rumpled, irresistibly him.

Without asking, he climbed in behind me, the bed shifting under his weight as he moved closer. I felt his breath first—warm, slow—against the shell of my ear.

Then his lips.

Soft, lingering kisses at first. A trail from the curve of my ear to my jaw. My neck. His nose brushing my skin. His voice dropped into a low murmur that made me shiver.

"Did you miss me so much you had to send me that awkward little voicemail, mmh?" he chuckled lightly.

I stiffened. My face was already warm, but now it burned.

"You’re such an asshole," I muttered. "That wasn’t even me. It was a mistake."

I twisted around to glare at him, but he was already there—face to face, his breath ghosting over my lips. His eyes searched mine, and just like that, everything slowed. The teasing melted away and his gaze softened, almost like it hurt to look at me.

In that moment, it felt like the entire world outside the jet ceased to exist. There was only him. Only me. Just the two of us in this bed, existing alone in this world. And frankly I liked the idea of it.

"You look tired," I whispered, my fingers threading through his tousled hair before I even realized what I was doing. "Where did you go?"

He hesitated. "Work."

"You’re lying."

"I know."

I didn’t push. What was the point? Kael Roman never said what he didn’t want to. So instead, I let my hand linger in his hair, feeling the tension under my fingertips.

Then he moved. Slowly. Deliberately.

He leaned closer, pressing into me like he couldn’t bear any distance left between us. His lips caught mine mid-breath, and the kiss that followed shattered every wall I’d built since the last one.

It wasn’t gentle. It was desperate—hot and rough and full of unspoken emotion.

His hands gripped my waist and my fingers curled in his shirt.