Page 12 of Unicorn Unashamed

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Raymond realized, once he and Josh had gotten into his car, that he had made a massive error. Josh’s scent—alluring, enticing, delicious—had been strong enough in the studio.

In Raymond’s car, with the windows rolled up against the rain, it only further bloomed, completely suffusing the small space. It made it difficult to concentrate on anything but Josh, and the only reason Raymond was able to focus at all on the drive was because he needed to keep Josh safe.

Safe meant not dead in a ditch because they’d run off a road turned river, so Raymond kept breathing through his mouth and did his best to steer, and he might have been panting and sweating with the effort of keeping himself from just pulling over and pushing Josh down in his seat, but he did it. He was able to get to Josh’s complex and pull into a space.

He hunched forward in his seat, taking big gulps of air and immediately regretting it, because that air was still wrapped up in the perfume of Josh’s scent. At least it would be gone soon. Josh would leave the car and head to his apartment and… and finish out his virile period alone…

The thought had Raymond whimpering before he could stop the sound. Just imagining Josh alone, having to deal with a virile period without help, without Raymond being there, taking care of him… it was almost too much to bear.

The other thought though, was Josh not ending up alone. Him going out to find someone for the night, or next several nights, someone else taking care of him, touching him, smearing their scent all over him—

If Josh seemed startled by the growl that rattled up through Raymond’s chest before he could squash it back down, he didn’t say anything. In fact, he seemed blessedly unaware of Raymond’s massive crisis over how desperately he wanted to run his hands over every inch of Josh’s body, touch him, taste him, kiss him, please—

Raymond buried his face in his hands and tried not to whine.

“Raymond?” Josh was touching his shoulder and he sounded concerned. “Raymond, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Raymond gasped, trying not to react to Josh touching him. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He needed to get it together. “Here I’ll—I’ll walk you to your door.” At least he could provide some more protection. Josh smelled too good. Raymond needed to protect him.

“That’s okay,” Josh said, clearly alarmed. His scent was starting to turn distressed. “Are you sure you’re good to drive?”

“Sure,” Raymond forced out, throwing open the door, immediately buffeted by the intense, increased sound of rain. “Yeah, yeah, I—just gotta get some air. I’ll be fine.”

“All right,” Josh said doubtfully. “On three?”

They both bolted to the entrance of Josh’s building, and Josh shoved his keys in the lock to open the door so they could fall inside. He let out a sigh of relief once the door was shut, but just those few seconds outside had him dripping again. Raymond traced a droplet of water sliding through Josh’s bangs and down the side of his cheek before he groaned and leaned heavily against the wall.

“Okay,” he managed. He needed to leave. He needed to make himself leave. “Right. Okay. I’ll—I’ll see you Friday.”

“Okay, no.” Josh grabbed his arm. “There’s no way you’re driving right now. That is literally an accident waiting to happen. You can barely stand up. Come on.”

“What?” Raymond asked, staring at him.

“Come on.” Josh tugged on Raymond’s wrist. “Come back to my place and at least sit down for a minute.”

“I’m fine, I shouldn’t—”

“Raymond, please. You look like you’re about to fall over. Please, I can’t let you drive like this.”

Raymond couldn’t ignore Josh’s scent tinged with distress. Especially not because of him. “Okay,” he allowed. “Okay. Just for a minute.”

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