Chapter 210 Someone Strange

Chapter 210 Someone Strange
Laurette’s POV

I didn’t realize I had been crying until I tasted the salt of my own tears. I had never found myself in a situation where I felt a need to exterminate someone else’s pain so deeply. It doesn’t matter how I looked at it. No one deserved to go through such a thing. Especially not Hosea. 

I could see the image of his pain so clearly as he spoke, and at a point I began to feel it in my chest. 

Now I understand why his family is such a touchy subject. Why it seems like his father is able to push his buttons with just a word. 

Hosea lost both his childhood and his mother to an unstable household. And that is a pain that cannot be measured. 

The faint sound of my sniffle has Hosea turning to look at me for the first time since he started speaking. I could tell he didn’t want to look into my eyes because he was embarrassed, but I wanted to reassure him he had nothing to be embarrassed about. 

He blinks bemusedly at the sight of my tears, his hands reaching for me almost immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“You must’ve been so scared. And alone.”  I croak out, my lips trembling as more tears stream down my face. 

The more I find out about Hosea, the more the image of him in my mind is stripped gradually and I see him for who he truly is. Not the big bad menace that the rest of the world sees, but the little boy who has had some of the most important and valuable things ripped from him. 

Despite how intimidating he might seem, knowing more about him has made me want to spend my days protecting him. 

“It kills me to see you cry..”. He rasps, squeezing my arm. 

I shake my head, my eyes falling shut as I reach out to touch him. “It kills me even more knowing all the things you went through.”

He blinks repeatedly, and I can tell he is trying to hold back his tears. I wrap my arms around his neck in the tightest hug I can manage, my face buried deep in his neck. He breathes into mine, his arms enveloping my tiny frame. I sigh against his neck, and a sound rumbles from deep inside his chest. He pulls me up from the couch and unto his lap in a smooth motion, his arms never loosening from around me and his lips still pressed against my neck. 

I don’t know for how long we stay holding each other, but eventually, he releases me, pulling back to stare at me. The look in his eyes are such as could only be described as intrigued. He stared at me as though he were looking at someone else entirely. Someone interesting. 

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, bringing my eyes down to my lap. When I finally meet his eyes, he blinks the look away and gives me a smile. 

“What?”  I ask him, playfully shoving his chest. 

“Nothing.”  He shakes his head, but the look is back in his eyes right after. 

“Liar. What are you thinking?”

“You cry whenever I tell you about my past.”  He says, his voice sheepish all of a sudden. 

“What about it?”

“I haven’t seen anyone like that before.”

I tilt my head. “Really?”

He nods. 

“How many people have you told your past to?” I ask, raising my palms to his shoulders. 

He glances off to the side, and I can tell he is calculating in his mind. I wait curiously for his response. But my expectation is deflated when he looks back at me and says, “Just you”. 

I roll my eyes. “Seriously?”

“All the others who know about it were either part of it or found out on their own. I haven’t told anyone before.”

“Then you can’t make it seem like I’m different from others when I have been the only one.”

He laughs. “It’s not like I’d go around forcing people to hear my story just so I could gauge their reactions. You’re still different. Because you’re the only one.” His palms smooth over my back, pulling me forward against his chest. 

I look between us to hide my smile, but Hosea is quick to notice the heat rising to my cheeks. “There you go getting red again. Cheeky little tomato?”

I move to protest about him making fun of me again, but he leans forward and takes my lips in a kiss, swallowing my words immediately. I melt into him, my body slowly deflating in his arms. 
His palm splays at the back of my head, and he uses it to press me deeper into the kiss. He grunts lowly at a particular sharp bite I leave on his lower lip before I take it in my mouth. He leans down to attend to my neck, and while my lips part with a moan, he uses the opportunity to stick his tongue inside my mouth to play with mine. 

“Oh Kitten…”. He groans, using the pet name I had acquired only recently. The sounds of his moans and praises between desperate kisses has liquid pooling in my pants, and before I know it, I’m chasing after that friction by grinding slowly on his lap. 

He holds me in place, sucking in a harsh breath and looking up to meet my eyes. His pupils are practically nonexistent with how dilated they are, and the sight of just how much he needs me makes it difficult to sit still. Hosea shuts his eyes and presses his forehead against my chest, groaning lowly as I squirm on his lap. 

“Fuck! You’ll kill me, Laurette…”. He drags me forward roughly till my core is pressed against his hardened bulge, then he bucks up against me and keeps me there. Pressed against his crotch, but unable to move. 

“Please baby…”. I whine, pleading with my eyes and my hips. Hosea is a brick wall beneath me, unmoving despite how tormented he looks. 

“You must be tired from the journey.”  He says, blinking slowly. “Let’s get some rest tonight.”

The frustration almost brings me to tears, and  as I press my forehead against Hosea’s one last time, I try pleading with my eyes for him to let go. But he doesn’t budge. He shakes his head and stands to his feet with me in his arms, walking me over to the kitchen. 

He places me over the counter, then moves around the kitchen grabbing plates and cutlery. We were having takeout again, but the aroma had me missing my mama’s cooking. 

“It smells amazing”. I hum, jumping off the counter and walking over to the takeaways.  “Where is this from?”

“I called the chef to get it prepared before we arrived.”

“Oh”. I blink, taking a swipe from the edge of the plate and bringing it to my mouth. Hosea watches me suck the flavor from my forefinger, his chest expanding with a deep breath. 

He holds my gaze for merely three seconds before putting away the plates and yanking me into his arms.