Sweet Hatred-Chapter 223: Worse or Better

ARIA

What the fuck just happened?

That was the only thought looping through my head as I stared at the door Kael had disappeared through. I hadn’t even realized I was whispering it aloud until the words lingered in the silence like a ghost of reason.

He was gone now.

But his presence still clung to the air, still clung to me. To my lips. To my skin. To the ragged pace of my heart that refused to settle.

I blinked, gaze trailing down to my shirt, half unbuttoned, then back to the door again. I could still see the outline of his shoulders, the slow prowl of his gait as he left, broad back flexing under that dark silk shirt he’d thrown on like an afterthought. The muscles beneath it moved like a barely chained beast, all strength and menace, composed rage wrapped in billionaire taste.

God.

My knees wobbled again.

The last thirty minutes had been... a fever dream. First, I was pummeling a man for groping terrified staff. And now, I’d been dragged into Kael’s arms like I belonged there.

I hadn’t even known he was already here.

When I’d felt that dark pressure behind me earlier, that eerie pulse in my bones that always warned me when he was close, I’d chalked it up to my imagination. Some stupid longing my brain cooked up. A trick. A symptom of missing him.

But he was real. Here. And he kissed me like none of my hesitations or cold silences ever mattered.

I lifted trembling fingers to my lips. They were still tender. Still swollen. Still... ruined in the best way by his. freewēbnoveℓ.com

He’d kissed me like I was his air supply. Like I was some sacred offering he needed to burn alive in order to live.

And I let him.

No, I melted. I gave in. I fed it.

And the worst part? I still wanted more.

A shiver rolled down my spine, crawling low into my stomach, making everything ache with a cruel kind of satisfaction. It felt like scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. But the moment it passed... I felt hollow. Hungry. Ashamed.

Is he the only thing that makes me feel alive right now?

The thought turned my stomach.

Because I’d spent weeks trying to sort myself out. Trying to find solid ground. To be myself again. Between Olivia leaving, Kael’s silence, my father reappearing out of nowhere like a ghost I never wanted to see again... I was already slipping.

Kael made it worse.

Kael made it better.

Kael made me forget I was unraveling. And that was the part that scared me most, how much I wanted to forget.

My phone pinged.

Ashlyn.

You alright?

I sucked in a breath and typed quickly.

Me: Fine. Just bruised pride and knuckles.

Her reply came almost instantly.

Ashlyn:

He was more dangerous than we thought. Almost killed someone. Kael’s handling it. But we might need to do a full recheck of the entire security process again.

My stomach tightened.

Me:

I’ll join you in a few. Give me a minute.

The truth? I needed more than a minute.

I needed to crawl into a hole and scream into a pillow. But instead, I looked at myself in the mirror hanging across the room.

Hair? A mess.

Lips? Wrecked.

Neck? Flushed and Marked.

Eyes? Wild.

And yet somehow... I didn’t hate what I saw.

I hated what I felt.

Like I’d given him something I swore I wouldn’t anymore. Power. Leverage. Another reason to keep pulling me back in.

But I wasn’t going to sit here and wait like some obedient little toy.

No.

He wanted me to stay?

Then fuck that.

I buttoned up my shirt, every click of a button like reclaiming a piece of my mind. I straightened my skirt, fixed my hair into something halfway presentable, and grabbed my phone.

Kael would be pissed when he came back and didn’t find me. Maybe even furious.

But I was starting to enjoy riling him up.

If he thought I’d always bend, he clearly didn’t know me well enough yet.

I smirked to myself and stepped out of the suite.

Let the next round begin.

The villa was a maze of soft candlelight, echoing marble floors, and glass walls that reflected my every step, like it was watching me. Judging me. Whispering that I’d just let the devil devour me and now I was running straight into a saint’s arms. Or another kind of devil. One that wore lipstick and smirks like a seductress.

I hated how my legs still felt a little unsteady. Like Kael’s touch hadn’t just ruined me, but rewired me. I could still taste his breath. Still feel his thumb grazing my jaw like I was something he prayed to and planned to ruin all at once.

Ashlyn was waiting in one of the outer lounge wings, where the villa opened up into a long glass corridor that overlooked the private shoreline. Past that, security offices, and a whole underground facility tucked beneath the paradise above.

She was standing in front of a softly glowing monitor wall, talking to someone in a sleek uniform who dipped away the moment she spotted me.

And of course, the moment her eyes landed on me... she smirked.

Oh God.

"You know..." Ashlyn’s voice curled like silk soaked in tequila. "If you were going to get thoroughly devoured, the least you could’ve done was fix your hair after."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

She tilted her head. "You look radiant, don’t get me wrong. But there’s only so much a buttoned shirt can hide after Kael’s been kissing you like that."

I didn’t say anything. Mostly because there was nothing to say. My mouth was dry. My entire body was betraying me with the way it warmed at her words. Not with embarrassment. With memory.

"It’s nothing," I finally muttered, brushing past her like I wasn’t two seconds away from combusting in shame and confusion.

Ash chuckled behind me, low and amused. "If that was ’nothing’, remind me to see what ’everything’ looks like."

God. I felt like a walking exposed nerve.

And worse, guilty.

Because technically, technically... Kael was hers. Her fiancé. No matter what the arrangement was. No matter if it was a lie, or for business, or for show. I was still the woman pressed against his chest less than fifteen minutes ago while his hands unwrapped me like a gift.

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