Sweet Hatred
Chapter 171: Rain

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 came down in sheets, crashing against the windows of the villa like it had something 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 me 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—merciless 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 warmed 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 memories I’d tried to silence.

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

Because behind me, Aria was still here.

She stood near me 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 something I ever gave a damn about. My birthday was a date I barely remembered unless someone else reminded me. 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 time it ever felt like something worth smiling about.

So I stopped celebrating. Stopped caring.

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

She made it matter. She made me matter.

And fuck, if that didn’t terrify me 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 seemed... a little more okay. Still tender around the edges, but not bleeding. Her eyes met mine without trembling. Her voice didn’t shake.

And that did something to me 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 me, her eyes didn’t narrow, they searched. Her lips parted. And her voice came quieter, almost unsure. "Do you want us to?"

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

Instead, I reached for the comm device sitting on a stool beside me 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 moment 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 me at all since you got back. Is the world ending or something?"

I smirked, brushing my knuckles along her jaw. "I decided not to be selfish this time. Thought I’d let you come to me 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 met 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 met 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 became the only storm I could feel.

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

Her lips moved with a rhythm I’d memorized and forgotten a thousand times. Her fingers curled tighter in my hair, her back arching beneath me. 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 me. It wrecked me.

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

"Just shut up and kiss me."

My restraint snapped. For a moment. 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 me, 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 came low and strained. "Maybe we... can just cuddle."

She froze.

And then she gave me that look.

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

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

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

"Are you going to make me 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 me back, whimpering into my mouth, I knew...

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

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