Page 11 of Sweet Hate
AXEL
You know what they say about the best laid plans? Well, my plans to avoid Haven have already gone to shit. I just needed a few groceries, and of course, there she was, climbing the shelves to grab a jar of sauce. It was as cute as it was maddening. She could have been hurt a hell of a lot worse than a small cut on her finger.
The woman has no sense of self-preservation.
I stare down as I flex my hand, wishing I could still see the little half-moon indents of her nails. It’s been hours, but I still feel them on my skin. I still feelher.
My palms burn, yearning to hold her again, even if it’s just for another few seconds. She let me touch her. Sure, I probably surprised the shit out of her, but she didn’t pull away.
I needed her to. I sure as shit couldn’t.
Jesus fuck, I even tossed all my EMT training in the trash sucking the blood off her finger like a starved vampire.
Who am I?
“Fuck.” I toss my head back on the couch and groan, dragging my hand down my face. What the hell is wrong with me?
I can’t keep touching her. Every time I do, it fucks with myhead, and I can’t trust myself to stick to the rules I made for myself years ago. No contact. Her life was her business, I wouldn’t get involved.
So, why do I want to ask her why she's back in Sweet Haven? Why do I want to know how she's been? What she's been doing? If she's still dating that guy?
None of my fucking business.
I close my eyes, but the sight of her in the store swims into my mind, haunting me. Her bright aqua eyes staring up at me in surprise, her cleavage and face covered in specks of that damn white Alfredo sauce. My cock was rock hard in seconds, leaving me dizzy. I barely managed to keep even a shred of self-control.
The visual reminder of the countless times I marked her as mine in the most primal way possible. She used to love it when I decorated her in my cum.
The first time she let me do that damn near blew my mind. To see ropes of my load, circling her neck like a dirty necklace, and watch as she swiped a finger through it, sucking it off with a moan. Devouring it while she looked up at me with those crystal clear eyes.
She is—was—mine.
No.
Not yours, asshole. She never belonged to you.
I can’t afford to get entangled with her. Not again.
Hurricane Haven isn’t just a nickname—it’s a warning. She’s a force of nature. She doesn’t just pass through your life; she leaves wreckage. You can’t help but be pulled in by her electric energy, but try to hold her down and she’ll tear you apart.
Trust me. I know.
I barely survived her last time.
Still, hard as I try, I can’t help but think back to that day years ago, after Graduation, when our friendship changed forever, and I got caught in the eye of the storm.
“Axel,you have seven minutes to make out with…”
The anticipation is killing me as Lucas sends the bottle spinning wildly again. I didn’t want to play this stupid game. Who in their right mind would want to go make out with someone selected totally at random in the dark? I don’t get it at all.
Well, unless it lands on?—
My eyes connect with Haven’s as she sits across from me, laughing with our friends at my dismay.
Glad she’s finding this so hilarious.
The bottle slows, and I hold my breath, closing my eyes and internally chanting. ‘Please not a dude, please not a dude,’.
“HAVEN!” Lucas practically screams out, and my eyes snap open, locking onto Haven's shocked aquamarine gaze, while the group erupts in cheers and hollers around us.
