Page 25 of Unicorn Unashamed

“Please, it hurts—”

It hit him all at once: Josh clearly hadn’t been in his right mind.

Raymond’s eyes flew open, and the first thing he saw was Josh’s pale neck, absolutely covered in deep purple and red bruises.

He’d done that, Raymond thought, stomach roiling. He’d fucked Josh and knotted him and marked him up, trying to lay a claim before they’d even talked and—

They hadn’t. They hadn’t talked. Josh was already everything Raymond wanted, but with Raymond finally getting a full face of his scent and the added allure from Josh’s virile period he’d been thick and stupid and the true stereotype of an alpha wolf looking for a knothole.

When Josh had offered himself up, Raymond had gone for it instead of doing the right thing and taking a step back. And when Josh had begged for it, obviously out of his head, Raymond had kept going.

Insides ice, Raymond took a slow, shaky breath and pulled away from Josh’s warmth. Josh let out a little unhappy noise as Raymond extricated himself from the bed, and Raymond froze, desperately hoping Josh wouldn’t wake up. He couldn’t face him. Not like this, not now, not with a Josh who would be coming down from a high of need and satiation. He knew enough about unicorns to know that it was like coming out of a fog, and that it took awhile for the desire to touch to go away.

If Josh woke up now, he still might be in the fog and not fully realize what Raymond had done. He might—he might even seek Raymond out. Raymond had to give Josh the distance to come back to himself. He had to leave.

Overcome with shame, Raymond hurriedly gathered up his things, pulled on his clothes, and left the apartment.

***

Josh woke up slowly, without the buzzing half-desperation that had been a background constant for the last three days. It was always especially nice to luxuriate in the feeling that resulted from coming out of a virile period he didn’t spend on his own. He felt properly used, which appealed to his baser instincts, and was sore and tender in the best way.

Opening his eyes to find an empty bed was a bit of a let-down, but he wasn’t going to blame Raymond for wanting to get up. Josh knew that Raymond was an early riser, and what with it being—he checked his phone—after nine, Raymond had to have gotten antsy.

And if Raymond was up, Josh wanted to be a good host.

Shower first though, he decided, when he rolled out of bed, pulling on his robe before grabbing a change of clothes for when he was done with his shower.

He very briefly entertained the thought of maybe asking Raymond to join him, but discarded the thought just as quickly. Josh wasn’t going to push for aftercare if that wasn’t Raymond’s jam, because while it was nice, Josh didn’t need it. Yeah, he enjoyed being cuddly and tactile after sex a bit more than most, but that was totally typical of unicorns. It went hand in hand with the general need and desire for closeness.

Truth be told, Josh didn’t get aftercare a lot anyway, since most of his interactions now were one-night stands. So he was used to going without. It just would have been… nice, to wake up to Raymond still in bed with him and wanting to cuddle a little before they got started on their day.

“Raymond?” Josh called as he left his bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower, but is there anything you need? I hope you helped yourself to breakfast, by the way.”

He was met with silence. Confused, Josh walked into his living room.

Empty.

Frowning now, Josh checked the kitchen, then the bathroom, and finally checked the area by his front door to discover that Raymond’s shoes were gone.

Oh.

Josh tried to brush off how being left alone while still coming down from a more-intense-than-usual virile period made him feel altogether too trembly and his insides freeze. It was pretty late in the morning. Raymond must have had things to do. Like work. Of course. Raymond had some early morning students. It was silly of Josh to expect him to just blow them off because he and Raymond had had sex.

Still. It would have been nice for Raymond to maybe wake him up to say goodbye. Or leave a note. Something.

Maybe… maybe Raymond had just wanted the one night? To get the want out of his system? Maybe he felt awkward staying, knowing that Josh was most likely going to be a little clingy in the morning, if he thought he could get away with it.

The thoughts hurt more than Josh would have liked them too.

Whatever. It was fine. He’d give Raymond some space and not bother him. Josh had plenty of work to catch up on anyway, so he’d be able to keep himself busy. And he had chores to do too—the ones that fell by the wayside when he was too busy buzzing to want to do laundry or go grocery shopping. It’d be easy enough to pass the time.

Maybe he’d text Raymond later in the evening, just to check in. Make sure they were still on for Friday.

Josh really hoped they were. He really hoped the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was an overreaction.

He hoped he hadn’t just ruined everything.

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