Sweet Hatred-Chapter 435: "Promise?"

ARIA

I swam up through layers of thick, syrupy sleep, my mind slow and heavy.

The first conscious sensation was warmth. A solid, radiating heat that enveloped me completely. The familiar scent of him... clean linen and something uniquely, essentially Kael filled every breath I took.

My eyes opened, the world blurry, then sharpening on his face. He was watching me, propped on an elbow, his dark gaze so soft it made my heart stumble over its next beat.

"Did you sleep at all?" My voice was a rasp, scraped raw from rest.

"A little," he said.

I frowned, my hand lifting almost of its own volition to trace the shadows beneath his eyes. "Liar. You need to rest, too."

"You need it more than I do." That infuriating, beautiful smirk touched his lips. The one I had ached for during the cold, empty weeks without him. "You’re building a person."

Right.

The truth washed over me, not as a shock, but as a deep, resonant hum in my blood.

I was pregnant.

With Kael’s child.

Kael had put a baby in me for the second time.

My cheeks flushed with a sudden, scorching heat as my mind replayed the specific, visceral memory of how it happened. That night in my shabby apartment. Him in my narrow bed, his hand a gentle pressure over my mouth to stifle my sounds. Buried so deep inside me I felt him in my soul. No barriers. No fear. Just him, claiming me, worshipping me, until the universe narrowed to the space where our bodies joined.

Well. That night had clearly been... effective.

"Why is your face so red?" Kael’s smirk deepened, his thumb stroking the burning skin of my cheek. "Thinking something wicked?"

"You’re the one with the single-track mind," I retorted, my voice tighter than I intended.

"True," he conceded without an ounce of shame. "But can you blame me? You’re a gravitational pull. I want to be lost in you every second, of every minute, of every day."

"Kael!" I shoved at the solid wall of his chest, a wave of mortification heating my skin.

But he was faster. His hands found my waist, a firm, sure grip, and pulled me back, flipping our positions in one fluid motion until I was straddling his hips.

The movement stole my breath. My hands landed flat on his chest, feeling the steady, strong drum of his heart beneath my palms.

He looked up at me, and the hunger in his eyes was a physical thing. A raw, devouring devotion that made my throat ache.

His hands settled on my hips, his thumbs making slow, absent circles on the bare skin where my shirt had ridden up.

"Hi," he murmured, the word a soft vibration between us.

"Hi," I breathed back.

Then I leaned down and kissed him.

It was soft at first. A tentative meeting of lips, a rediscovery.

He made a low, yearning sound in his throat and pulled me closer, his mouth opening under mine, deepening the kiss until the world fell away.

My body recognized his instantly. A familiar heat bloomed low in my belly. My fingers curled, clutching the fabric of his shirt.

When I broke away, we were both breathing in ragged sync.

"You’re going to be such a good father," I whispered, the words a secret promise.

His eyes darkened, the black pools swallowing the light. "And you... you are going to be the most breathtaking mother."

I kissed him again. Harder this time, pouring all my fear and hope and wonder into it.

His hands slid up my back, one tangling in the mess of my hair, the other pressing me flush against the hard length of his body.

I could feel the evidence of his desire pressing against me, and I shifted minutely, drawing a ragged groan from deep in his chest.

"Aria," he warned, his voice strained.

"What?" I asked, all false innocence, repeating the movement.

His grip on me tightened. "You are playing with a force of nature."

"Maybe I want to be consumed."

He moved again, a swift, powerful roll that caged me beneath him.

I gasped, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"You’re pregnant," he said, his forehead pressing to mine, our breath mingling. "I need to be... careful with you."

"I am not a fragile thing."

"You are carrying everything that matters." His hand moved to my stomach, resting there with a reverence that stole the air from my lungs. "You are carrying my entire world."

Tears, hot and sudden, welled in my eyes. "I love you."

"I love you more," he said, immediate and absolute.

"Not possible."

"Let me spend my life proving it." He kissed me again, a slow, deep, devastating conquest.

His tongue swept into my mouth, a claiming I felt in the marrow of my bones. I moaned against him, my legs wrapping around his waist of their own volition.

He groaned, his hips canting forward.

"Kael," I gasped when his mouth found my neck, his teeth scraping a delicate, shivering path along my pulse.

"Say it again," he demanded against my skin.

"I love you."

He bit down, a gentle, possessive pressure that made my back arch. "Again."

"I love you. I love you so much it terrifies me."

He pulled back, his gaze blazing into mine. "Don’t be afraid. I am never letting you go. Not ever."

"Promise?"

"I swear it." He kissed me again, harder now, more desperate, as if he could seal the vow with the pressure of his lips.

My hands slid under his shirt, my palms skating over the hard planes of his back, feeling the muscles shift and flex.

He groaned and caught my wrists, pinning them above my head with one effortless hand.

"If you keep touching me like that," he said, his voice a ragged thread, "I will lose what little control I have left."

"Who said I want you to have any?"

He cursed, low and fervent, the last of his restraint visibly splintering. "You will be the death of me."

"Good. Then I’ll never have to be without you."

He laughed, a rough, joyous sound that fractured the tension, and released my wrists to cradle my face instead.

"How did I get this lucky?" he murmured, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones.

"I ask myself the same question every day."

We stayed like that, suspended in the quiet, just looking at each other. Memorizing this new world we had made.

Then he kissed me again. Softer this time. Slower.

A kiss of worship. A kiss of home.

When he finally pulled back, we were both breathless and wrecked.

"Shower," he declared, his voice firm. "Then food."

"Together?"

His smile was a wicked, wonderful thing. "There is no other way."

---

The shower was... a baptism.

Kael insisted on washing my hair himself, his fingers working through the strands with a surprising, tender patience, massaging my scalp until I was boneless against him.

Then he washed my body, his hands moving over my skin with a reverence that felt like a prayer.

"You’re going to get bigger," he said, his palm spreading wide and warm over my still-flat stomach.

"Thank you for that stunning observation," I said, my voice muffled against his chest.

"I cannot wait," he continued, utterly ignoring my tone. "I want to see you round and full with my child. I want the whole world to look at you and know you carry a part of me."

"Possessive," I breathed.

"Always." He pressed a kiss to my damp shoulder. "Especially where you are concerned."

I turned in the circle of his arms, the water sluicing over us. "My turn."

I returned the favor, washing him with the same deliberate, aching care. The soap slid over the hard contours of his chest, his arms, his back. My hands trembled.

His eyes never wavered from my face, watching me with an intensity that felt like a physical touch.

"I love you," he said again, the words a vow woven into the steam.

"I know."

"Say it back."

"I love you too." I rose on my toes to kiss his jaw. "Even when you are impossibly, infuriatingly you."

"I am never impossible."

"You are the definition of impossible."

He grinned, a flash of white in the mist, and pulled me under the spray with him, holding me close as the water cascaded over our heads, our shoulders, our entangled bodies.

We stayed there until the water began to cool, wrapped in each other, neither of us willing to be the first to let go.

---

When we emerged, wrapped in thick hotel robes, a knock sounded at the door.

"Room service," Kael said, already moving to answer it.

A small procession of staff wheeled in cart after cart, transforming the sitting area into a feast.

My eyes widened. "Kael. How much food is this?"

"I did not know what would appeal to you," he said simply, tipping the staff with a quiet word before closing the door behind them. "So I ordered it all."

The spread was staggering. Bowls of glistening berries, yogurt swirled with honey, perfectly grilled chicken, vibrant steamed vegetables, golden pastas, crusty bread, steaming soups, crisp salads.

"This could feed a small village," I whispered.

"You are eating for two now." He guided me to a chair, his hand a steadying pressure on my lower back. "Sit. Please. Eat."

I sat, overwhelmed by the sheer abundance.

Kael took the seat across from me, his gaze fixed on me as I picked up a fork and poked at a slice of melon.

"Your appetite is gone?" he asked.

"My stomach is... nervous," I admitted.

"Tell me why."

"Everything." I set the fork down with a soft click. "What if... what if it happens again?"

His expression shifted in an instant, hardening into something absolute, unyielding. "It will not."

"You cannot know that."

"I can." He reached across the table, his hand covering mine, his grip sure and strong. "Because I will make it so. Whatever you require. Whatever is necessary. I will protect you. I will protect you both."

The fierce, unshakable certainty in his voice brought a fresh, hot press of tears to my eyes.

"Okay," I whispered, the word a surrender to his faith.

"Okay." He squeezed my hand. "Now. Eat. For me."

So I did.

And as I ate, with Kael watching over me as if I were the most priceless, cherished thing in all of existence, I let myself believe him.

I let the solid, unwavering truth of his love quiet the fear. This time, it would be different. This time, everything would be okay.