Swiftcurrent Creek and when the levee breaks

come at me bros. spar? gotta blow off some steam

It was much like waking up the morning after a wild night of drunken debauchery. Shale's eyes popped suddenly open from a dreamless sleep, shifting to Pema, who slept beside him, her angelic face contented. Hanging heavy in the air was the scent of her heat, and the mingled odors of their--

Fuck. He'd almost forgotten.

Without another word, Shale trotted out of the glade, muttering strangled oaths under his breath. He left the trees and took off at a breakneck pace, stretching out, his fury at himself and his body manifesting in a haphazard course toward. . .well, wherever. He slowed his pace when he reached the banks of a fast-flowing stream, coming to a stop and gazing down into the water, panting breaths misting on the cool air.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, echoing the one word that'd been bouncing around in his brain all morning. . .and, presumably, all of yesterday, too.

He hadn't meant to fuck her. He didn't want this. Well, he did--but. But! The panic he'd been fighting back since their argument surged like hot bile in his throat, and he swallowed, beginning to pace back and forth along the edge of the river. He'd finished in her several times, and she was now undoubtedly with child. Lucy's belly had began to swell shortly after they'd met.

Now the prospect of a mate, of kids, rose up in his mind, no longer the abstract concept it had been before. All because he'd wanted to get his dick wet.

"Fuck," he said, much softer this time, the lines of his normally drawn face etched deep in shame.