Sweet Hatred-Chapter 271: Wounded animal

The sky bled gold as the Crimson Serpent carved its path through the restless sea, its black sails a warning to all who dared cross it. Pirates called it cursed. The Navy called it a menace. But everyone whispered the name of its captain like a prayer:

Kael Roman.

The ruthless, battle-scarred pirate king who never left survivors.

And tonight, in the dim candlelight of his cabin, stood the only person who had ever slapped him across the face and lived to tell the tale.

Aria Sinclair.

The governor’s stolen daughter. His captive. His temptation.

No—his undoing.

---

"I should throw you overboard," Kael growled, voice rough like a storm scraping against wood. He stepped closer, his coat still damp from saltwater, his cutlass clinking against his thigh.

Aria didn’t flinch. Her chin tilted up with that defiance he hated almost as much as he craved.

"Then do it. But we both know you won’t."

That smirk. That goddamn mouth. She was shackled in the corner of his quarters and still found a way to challenge him. Kael’s fingers twitched near his belt—not for his weapon, but from the urge to touch her.

"I should’ve left you on that burning ship," he said, voice low.

"You didn’t," she replied simply. "You dragged me onto yours. And for what? Ransom? Revenge?" She leaned forward, eyes glinting. "Or because you couldn’t bear to watch me die?"

Kael lunged. His hand gripped the chain around her wrists, pulling her close enough that she could feel the heat of his skin, the hunger in his breath.

"I saved you," he whispered. "But don’t confuse that for mercy."

She swallowed, but didn’t pull back. "Then what was it?"

His jaw clenched. The truth itched behind his teeth, but he didn’t speak it.

Not yet.

Outside, thunder cracked. The ship tilted with the tide, and somewhere above, the crew shouted about sails and squalls—but Kael didn’t move. His storm was here, in front of him, locked in shackles and staring him down like he was nothing but a man.

He hated it.

He loved it.

And he was going to ruin her.

Just as much as she’d ruin him.

A violent blast. Wood cracking like thunder. Screams. Salt. Smoke.

Then...

Blackness.

---

Aria woke with sand in her mouth, her dress torn, damp, and clinging to her like a second skin. She coughed, rolled over, and spat out seawater as waves lapped at her feet. Palm trees leaned overhead like drunken giants. The sun was blinding.

Her wrists were still raw from the shackles, now broken. And beside her, slumped on the shore, was him.

Kael.

Unmoving.

She should’ve left him. She should’ve picked up a piece of driftwood and smashed his skull in. But instead, her stupid traitorous heart lunged toward him.

"Kael," she rasped, shaking him. "Kael, get up—don’t you fucking die on me."

He groaned.

That deep, unmistakable sound that came from somewhere primal and irritated. Aria exhaled in relief... then punched his shoulder.

Hard.

"Ow," he muttered, blinking up at her. "What the hell was that for?"

"You dragged me into a pirate warzone and shipwrecked us, you asshole!"

He smirked.

"Still got your bite. That’s promising."

---

Day 1

They fought.

Constantly.

About firewood, about shelter, about how Kael had apparently memorized her measurements when sewing her a makeshift outfit out of a sail ("You were shivering, princess. I’m not a monster.")

He caught fish. She found edible roots. They bickered over how to cook them.

But at night, the jungle buzzed with feral cries, and when thunder cracked again, she woke up to find him pressed against her under the crude palm-leaf canopy, body warm and breathing steady.

She didn’t push him away.

---

Day 3

They kissed.

It wasn’t gentle. It was a collision.

He’d just pulled her out of a river she nearly drowned in trying to retrieve a floating barrel. She slapped him. He cursed. Then she grabbed his face and kissed him like he was her last breath.

Kael groaned into her mouth and pinned her against the bark of a palm tree, hand sliding up her thigh, lifting the edge of that goddamn sail dress.

"You think I haven’t dreamed of doing this every night you cursed me from that cell?" he murmured, voice dark and ragged.

"You think I didn’t feel your eyes on me when you thought I wasn’t looking?" she fired back, breathless. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The kiss turned to biting.

The biting turned to moaning.

The moaning turned to her legs wrapping around his hips as he slammed her back against the tree.

But he didn’t take her... not yet.

Because Kael wanted to watch her fall apart first.

And on this island, there were no rules. No crew. No ships. No chains.

Only them.

And the slow, simmering hate they’d spent too long trying to kill...

was turning into something much more dangerous.

The night was thick. Hot. Sticky.

The fire Kael built crackled low, casting a golden glow on Aria’s sun-kissed skin. Her lips were slightly swollen from their earlier kiss, messy, brutal, addictive. Her legs were folded to the side as she sat beside him, arms wrapped around her knees. The makeshift dress slid off one shoulder, revealing the barest line of skin, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

She noticed. Of course she did.

"You’re staring," she muttered, not looking at him.

Kael didn’t pretend to be ashamed. "I’ve been starving for days. You expect me not to look at the feast beside me?"

Her breath caught. Her thighs subtly squeezed together.

"Stop talking like that," she whispered.

"I’ve been quiet long enough."

And then, he moved.

He crossed the space between them in a single breath, cupping her face, dragging his thumb across her bottom lip. Her breath hitched.

"You want to tell me to stop?" he asked, voice low, dark, intimate. "You want to push me away, princess?"

She didn’t answer.

So he kissed her.

Slow this time. Controlled. Like tasting honey he thought he’d never deserve.

Aria moaned softly, and that was all it took. He pushed her down onto the grass, their bodies lit only by moonlight and fire, her back arching as he hovered over her.

Her voice was husky. "Kael—"

"Say it again."

She blinked up at him.

"Say my name," he murmured, dragging his fingers up her inner thigh. "Let the jungle know who owns your body tonight."

She whimpered. "Kael..."

That was it. His restraint snapped.

He kissed her again, deeper, rawer, tasting every gasp, every desperate breath. His hand slid under her dress, tracing every curve he’d memorized in silence. When he reached the heat between her legs, he groaned.

"Already so wet for me, and I haven’t even touched you properly yet."

She squirmed under his grip, her pride slipping away with every stroke of his fingers, slow and steady, circling her until her hips bucked.

She whined. "Please..."

Kael leaned down, lips brushing her ear. "Beg."

Aria’s eyes fluttered shut. "Please, Kael... I need you."

He tore the dress in one smooth motion.

There was no softness left. No hesitation. His mouth found her breasts, worshipped them, teeth grazing skin as his hand didn’t stop working her. And when she was panting, writhing, trembling under him.

He pulled back.

She gasped, confused. Needy.

Kael grinned wickedly. "I want to watch you fall apart."

He dragged her to the edge, again and again, never letting her fall, until she was crying with frustration, her body drenched in sweat, thighs shaking.

Then finally, he slid inside her.

They both groaned.

It was brutal. Unapologetic. Every thrust a promise that she was his and only his. The stars blurred above them. The trees rustled around their moans. And when she came undone, screaming his name like a prayer, he followed, growling low in her ear, holding her so tight it was like he feared she’d disappear.

But she didn’t.

Because for the first time, neither of them ran.

And the hatred that once chained them?

Turned into something even more dangerous.

CONFUSED?

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