Summer Heat at the Office

Story by Cinos on SoFurry

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An otter has a bad case of summer heat at the office, with her thoughts increasingly focused on sex. A friendly coworkers has already made it apparent that he's willing to help with a quickie, but such things always carry some risk with them. Imagine how awkward it'd be to sit and work with a whole lot of cum inside you, knowing that it might knock you up at any moment!

Commissioned by https://www.furaffinity.net/user/rickmarks/


Summer. The otter did not much enjoy summer. The heat was one thing, leaving her constantly panting (at least the office had a small cool-off room for those who needed it) but the heat that always came, like clockwork, in July? That was unbearable.

It wasn't that she couldn't resist it. After this many years of experiencing it annually, she was doing fine in that department. Rather, it was the distraction it caused. The constant horniness. The wet patch she left on her chair (they'd replace the upholstery later - another good company perk) and the fact that every time she tried concentrating on the code she was writing, _fantasies_began to creep into her mind instead.

Fantasies of getting fucked, hard, and creamed, and knocked up. _Relentless_fantasies.

Scratch that. It wasn't the fantasies that were the worst part, nor was it the slimy wetness in her panties. More than anything, it was how disgustingly eager all the men were to help her. Oh sure, sometimes she let them help. But their eagerness was like watching a puppy beg for snacks. A kind of mix of wide-eyed hopeful stares, bad pickup lines, poorly concealed erections and oftentimes a mildly patronizing attitude.

Some of them were more confident. Some also didn't mention it even though they knew_she was in heat, which the otter greatly appreciated. One of those was a relatively new hire, a shark-fox. A fark- no, a _shox. He didn't ask because they'd already fucked several times. All of the canine types were a strict no when in heat because of those damn knots, and they knew it too.

But today was a particularly slow day.

A particularly slow day meant she had more than enough time to become very aware of the tingling, damp sense of need between her legs. It was to the point where she was squirming in her seat, trying to find a good angle to at least press her sodden folds against something. It was when she caught herself crossing and uncrossing her legs just to feel the slightest twinge of pleasure that she realized it was getting to her.

The problem was that they were way past the age of carrying condoms with them. Professional adults, and all. And it wouldn't even have been a problem if she'd just had enough work to do, but she didn't. Without condoms, the only option was taking a male bare, which was also an issue, to say the least. Her coworkers could probably be trusted to try to pull out, but those masculine urges didn't always play nice when they were rutting a female, especially when in heat.

So the otter bit her lip. Chewed on it, even. Surely it'd be alright if she just called Rick over for a couple of quick pumps. But there was the matter of his damn knot. Knots, plural. The shark part of him was evident down there, too. Not that the otter planned to take more than one, the other would just have to wait in line. Wait. She wasn't planning anything. The heat was getting to her.

Later that day, Rick stopped by her desk again. The otter couldn't quite tell if he was just trying to plant an idea in her head, or perhaps his seed in her belly. Or if it was, actually, small talk. Politics were still bad, the weather was going to continue being scorching hot, he said. Apparently he was going to skip his vacation. The otter only half-listened to what he was saying. Her eyes were, instead, drawn to the very obvious bulge in his trousers. Not that she could really blame him for that, standing next to a woman in heat had to be torturous, and knowing she had that effect was more than a little thrilling for her, too. Something about it was just so naughty, knowing her scent alone could cause those beautiful, potent, risky cocks to swell with desire to plunge into her sopping wet snatch and give her exactly what she wanted. In the heat of the moment, anyway. The possible consequences weren't quite as sexy.

She had,_once gotten inseminated while at the peak of her heat, and it hadn't taken. That'd been _very lucky, all her friends had told her. Luck, and she'd been very quick to wash all the sexy sperm out of her, which might've helped a little.

The otter recognized where that train of thought was going. Soon, her ovaries would be trying to convince her to take that risk. After all, it'd been such a thrill the last time, and she hadn't gotten pregnant, so surely she'd get lucky again. Her legs trembled at the mere thought of it, how incredibly satisfying being seeded while in heat felt. The utter sense of content, a floaty and almost druglike feeling of happy, tingly relaxation and dissolution, like all her worries were melting and oozing out along with the thick globs of sperm.

Fuck.

"Well, anyway, if you'd like any help with what you're doing, I'll probably be making some copies later on," Rick grinned. Barely coded language. They couldn't exactly talk out loud about the thing that was occupying both of their minds. God, some relief before her presentation in the evening would be very welcome, she might actually be able to focus. Of course, her employer would be forgiving given her predicament, but the otter was a professional. As one, she liked making a professional impression. Chances were that the guests from the other companies weren't as considerate, too.

So, a quickie could be just what she needed. Was it an excuse, fueled by her horniness? Maybe. She couldn't help but stare at the shox as he walked away to get lunch. All she had to do to get what she wanted was to take the risk and meet up with him in the printer room in a moment. That wasn't a responsible thing to do in the slightest, but...

Maybe it _was_the responsible thing to do, so she could perform better the rest of the day.

Bluh. That's definitely not it, she told herself, even as she stood up and became acutely aware of the wetness slowly dribbling down her inner thighs. Her brown muzzle flushed a deep red as she realized she probably had a visible wet spot down there, now. Maybe it would be better to just let someone she at least relatively trusted take care of it. Just this once she could afford letting her pussy do the thinking, right?

After all, the heat always started a little before she actually ovulated. It _should_still be safe. Relatively safe. Okay, not very safe, but she hadn't felt that deep, frustrating tingling in her belly, the one she usually felt when she hit peak fertility. A quick hump couldn't do that much harm.

The otter got a sandwich from the vending machine for some quick lunch to give herself one last chance to calm down and resist her heat. For some godforsaken reason she felt like a teenager too, not just horny, but desperately horny, with that disgusting eagerness to it that almost felt like a quivering sensation along her spine, like she needed a quick dicking. As she stood there, trying to focus on just how bland her sandwich was, she spotted Rick walking into the printer room in the corner of her eye. Still with that terribly obvious erection tenting his pants.

She bit her lip, and then followed him.

Rick offered her a cocky grin, leaning against the copy machine. He'd pulled his pants down to his knees, his two cocks bobbing proudly in the air, a sight that made the otter feel weak in her knees. Apparently the shox had been certain enough that she'd be unable to resist her offer - and that she'd be the next person to walk into the room - to take that risk. He'd been right, of course. It hurt her pride a little to admit it, but she needed to get stuffed, and badly, and seeing those two erect cocks, not to mention the hefty, heavy-looking balls just beneath them, was all she needed to make up her mind.

"Heh, decided to take me up o- mmnh!" the shark-fox spoke, only be quickly quieted by a passionate kiss from the heated otter. Her tongue dove into his mouth, warm and affectionate. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, hands diving in to splay over his well-defined abs and chest, rubbing and caressing. He hadn't quite been planning it to go like this, having forgotten just how pushy the otter got when horny enough, but it wasn't as if he minded.

The door didn't have a lock, but nobody came here on their breaks. As long as they were fast enough, they'd be fine. Either way, worrying about that... with a desperately horny otter grinding up against him, he had more important things to think about.

The otter smelled intoxicating. Doubly so when she pulled up that skirt of hers, letting her pheromone-laden scent of lust fill the air. The way her lust clung to her panties - wet, glistening strands of arousal - threatened to drive him wild with desire. The moment her sopping folds were bared, her hips bucked with instinctive desire, pressing her soft mound against his twin shafts. Well, the upper one at least. It slipped between her lips, but not inside - not yet - and a reciprocating thrust from him glazed the smooth, firm surface of his cock with her nectar. He could almost imagine it soaking into him with how his desire was skyrocketing, feeling just how wet she really was.

"Mh, someone's getting all worked up," he huffed, unable to keep himself from pointing it out. "I'm surprised you lasted this long before jumping on my cock."

His voice, at least, was low and rumbly, almost blending in with the hum of the equipment in the room, so as to not risk anyone still remaining in the office overhearing their passion.

The otter wasn't impressed. She replied with a hand tightly wrapped around his muzzle, shutting him up, pushed him down over the copier, and straddled him. It wasn't a comfortable position, with his hips dangling over the edge, but comfort was the last thing on either of their minds. For a few moments, she built anticipation, grinding their sexes together - his warm hardness pressed right into her soft and wet feminine groove, bumping over her stiff little pleasure-button with each motion - as if she was still trying to resist, just wanting to reach and orgasm and get over it.

Luckily for him, women in heat could almost never climax without penetration. Just one of those merciless quirks of biology, ensuring that they at least let a cock, or something sufficiently cocklike, into themselves, increasing the chance of successfully being fertilized.

She surrendered to that need soon enough, accompanied by a quiet, frustrated whimper, grasping one of Rick's cocks and guiding it between her lips, nudging the leaking tip right against that silken entrance to her body.

"You'd better not tie with me," she moaned, feeling that tapered tip slip into her, fighting the urge to impale herself all the way to the hilt, to those cum-filled balls so eager to drain their potent cargo into her. "Don't _cum_inside me either if you can help it."

He made no promises about either, and then threw his head back with a deep, throaty rumble as she sunk down on him. The way her velveteen heat clutched at him, tight and yet so incredibly soft, was beyond wonderful. The heat and wetness added to it. And knowing that she was fertile, and he was inside her unprotected with nothing to protect her womb from his seed was the best part. He wasn't planning_to breed her, but if it happened, it happened. Wasn't going to put much effort into avoiding it. After all, she clearly wanted to be in control. And she might've been in control of _him. Less so of her own instincts.

Those few moments of her slowly sinking down over one of his cocks - the other one handily rubbing over the otter's clit - were like heaven, and seemed to last forever. He felt her inner muscles clench around him, and he throbbed in turn, knowing he was probably squirting precum with each little buck of her hips. Sperm-laden precum, probably. One of the perks of being half canine.

Not that he was in a hurry. He leisurely stretched, thrusting upwards lazily and groaning at the sweet sense of sinking deeper, deeper, deeper into that wet, tight heat.

She made sure to keep her mouth shut to muffle those instinctive, unavoidable moans that kept coming as she felt Rick's breeding rod slip into her. Bad idea, her rational mind reminded her. But it felt so very, very good. Each inch of that firm, so incredibly masculine rod she was so eagerly impaling herself on carried an implicit promise of relief, of sweet soothing pleasure and satisfaction. And more so, if she just allowed it to inseminate her like nature wanted her to.

Her hips were gyrating. When had she even started doing that? It didn't matter, surrendering to those instincts felt too good. She was watching herself, almost as a detached passenger in her own body, watching herself try her hardest to breed herself on that shox's cock. His hands slipped under her shirt as she rode that wonderful tool, groping at her modest breasts, drawing another barely-muffled moan from her trembling lips. Fuck. His fingers traced around her nipples, flicking over them each time she sunk down on him, gently kneading as she pulled back up. No doubt he'd be fantasizing of them getting all big and milky if she allowed him to seed her.

She already felt his knot beginning to swell at the very base of his cock. Each time it popped out of her, stretching her just a little wider, was thrilling. What if it got stuck? It was such a terrifying, yet incredibly arousing idea. She'd have no way of pulling off, then, before Rick had finished seeding her.

The otter sank down again, groaning as that growing knot pushed past her plush inner lips. Mhh. All she had to do was to stay like this a little too long. She bucked her hips, grinding against that firm bulb. The way it seemed to press all her inner nerves just right was almost too much. Suddenly, she felt Rick's cock buck inside her, and immediately pulled off with a frustrated hiss. No, he hadn't cum yet. The knot made her quiver as it popped out again. Instead of heeding that warning, she kept going, slowly impaling herself over and over again, knowing fully well that the shox wouldn't be able to resist cumming forever. Neither could she.

Rick was fighting the instinct to just grab her hips and thrust hard and rough into her, forcing that knot and his cum both into her. He wasn't that kind of person, though. That, and he was pretty sure that the heat-addled otter would do all the work herself, so he could simply relax and enjoy it all, as innocently as the situation really allowed. His hands squeezed her breasts gently again, watching as her head fell back with another hissing whimper of pleasure. Every inch of her felt so perfect. The way those tits jiggled against his palms with each motion, the stiffness of her nipples contrasting with the soft, feminine fur and flesh. And her cunt. It was almost suckling on him, an audible wet slurp announcing each of her increasingly erratic motions with how wet she was around him. Nature itself seemed to be fighting to force her to conceive, sapping away all attempts at self-control.

The fact that she knew she was playing with fire only enhanced how it felt. Like she was rocking against something forbidden inside her, stimulating her in ways she'd never thought possible. This was only the second time she ever had bare sex while in heat, and it was easy to see why some ended up with so many pups, if this was how it always felt. Each little throb of his shaft, deep inside her, made her heart skip a beat. Each one might've been the first spurt of thick, virile cum that'd claim her.

But none of them were, at least she didn't think so. Rick's expression was a focused one, as he concentrated on not cumming yet, but he was panting, and she could_feel_ his cock swell a little further. Placing both hands against his firm chest, she sunk down again, all the way to the hilt so she could feel his tightening balls rub up against her, so very rich and heavy with seed. She had_to be careful, but even _thinking about risks and worries was all but impossible in the heat of the moment.

When she tried to pull off again, she couldn't do so without a twinge of pain. Panic rose in her throat and another choked groan erupted from her lips as she wrenched her hips upwards as hard as she could, breathing a sigh of relief as his meaty knot wetly popped free once again.

Even that wasn't warning enough for her. No, she needed to cum or this would've all been for nothing. Just a little longer. A few more minutes. She was so close. Already every inch of her body was tingling with anticipation, feeling like a tightly coiled spring, or a swarm of butterflies in her stomach, or... fuck it. Maybe one more turn around that wonderful, thick knot would bring her over the edge. She'd already managed to pull off it just now, she could do it again.

Rick grinned as he realized what the otter was planning. Yet, even with the risk it posed to his own hopes, he felt like he had to warn her.

"I'm- rrgh- getting pretty close, be careful if you-" he growled, surprised at how he barely managed to force the words out, with how his throat was closing up with sheer lust. Not to mention every fiber of his being screaming at him to just let it happen.

"J-just hold it for one more minute," the otter whined, working her way down that luscious shaft again. God, this is way too risky. Get a hold of yourself. Don't you dare do it. He's going to cum and you're going to get pregnant, her inner voice reminded her, and she promptly swept all of those cautions aside in exchange for one moment of white-hot ecstasy she'd surely feel once that knot spread her wide again. "I'm almost there, almost."

"Me too," Rick replied. A final warning delivered in the clearest voice he could muster before he'd decide to simply let her do what she wanted, consequences be damned. "I can't..."

She was so close to that beautiful moment. The tension was unbearable. She let gravity smush her sodden folds against Rick's fateful knot, resting nearly her entire weight against it, and slowly, she felt it push into her. Gods, it was beautiful, almost too big, but it felt amazing, and it was just what she needed to-yes.

She came, letting out a cry of pleasure so loud that If it hadn't been for lunch break, they're certainly been discovered. Her muscles squeezed and milked around Rick's wonderful cock as she enjoyed that moment of glorious, all-consuming bliss. And that moment had her legs twitch just enough that she suddenly slipped, unable to keep herself steady, and forcibly, gravity shoved his knot into her with a loud slurp.

"D-don't you d-dare," she groaned, barely able to form any coherent words with how her body was singing in orgasm. Yet, it wasn't as if he could resist it. The feeling of the otter's heat enveloping his knot and squeezing around it so tightly, in that familiar, seductive rhythm, was too much.

Helplessly, she felt him swell, and then throb, heavily. Again. Matching the beat of his heart. On the second flex of his shaft inside her, she felt the faint tickle of something incredibly warm rushing into her. She knew exactly what it was, but that cold feeling of anxiety that should've been there was drowned out by intense, primordial satisfaction.

As more and more of his heated seed gushed into her, she could do nothing but accept it, to embrace her insemination, and she came again almost immediately, even harder than last time, entirely losing herself in the pleasure. There was nothing but that divine feeling of utter fulfilment, feeling the cock inside her pulsating as it performed its duty. Only a little bit of cum oozed from his second shaft, coating her little clit. She was nothing but a thirsty, wanting womb, drinking deeply, desperately of the virile bounty, for a burning moment of utter euphoria.

And then it was over.

Her expression of pleasure turned into a frown.

She looked at the clock and that frown turned into alarm.

Too many thoughts at once. She didn't know how to react, or what to even react to.

Rick's tongue was lolling out, a silly expression of similar, totally spent satisfaction on his grinning muzzle. But they had to be back at work right now. Still, nature wouldn't be rushed. They spent some five minutes they had_to, their sexes tied together by the shox's cock as the otter grew increasingly agitated. Oh, Rick would be late to work, too, but _he felt entirely too satisfied to really care. Any of his coworkers would've given him, at worst, a laughing pat on the back. The otter, on the other hand, had something _very_important she had to do, not to mention the risk that she'd just gotten knocked up.

The seconds passed by agonizingly slowly as Rick's knot slowly deflated. Soon she managed to slowly force herself off it, getting dressed as quickly as she could. Very little of the cum leaked out right away, with how deep it'd been bumped, which was at least somewhat good. It would, soon enough, she knew that much from experience.

"You bastard," she growled at the very relaxed, satisfied hybrid, despite knowing she really only had herself to blame. She smoothed out her ruffled skirt and disappeared out into the office, slamming the door behind her.

But it was difficult to focus on work again. After perhaps thirty minutes of trying to calm down, she could feel that slippery wetness slowly drip out of her and into her panties. A few more minutes, and... ugh. Ugh! She could feel the warm mess of Rick's seed slosh around inside her every time she moved. The crotch of her panties was not only wet, now, but sticky. If someone had listened closely, they'd definitely heard some kind of wet squelching as she walked, or at least, so she imagined. The otter pulled up her panties more tightly, on her way to the presentation.

The worst part wasn't the mess, the worst part was that the longer that cum remained inside her, the bigger the chance of her getting pregnant was. And yet, she couldn't let it leak out either, because that'd be absolutely mortifying. Imagine if someone saw a glob of cum drooling down from under her skirt? Visiting the toilet would be equally risky because she really was in a hurry thanks to Rick's stupid knot.

That thought, as embarrassing and shameful as it was, still gave her a brief, naughty thrill. She'd look like a total slut. Then again, she was in heat. Maybe they'd all take turns fucking her- no. Definitely no. You've been enough of an idiot today. It's time to focus.

The otter sat down by her desk again - feeling that wet squish of her cum-soaked panties - and got to work. She only had to prepare a bit of a presentation, nothing too professional. Just a summary. And yet, her attention kept being drawn to the cum inside her. The sloppy wetness was arousing, too. Knowing that she was taking a huge risk just for the sake of keeping up appearances. Not to mention it felt all tingly over her clit and lips.

She squirmed, crossing her legs and tucking her thick tail between her legs so as to hopefully avoid anyone smelling it on her, at least.

Okay. Presentation. She opened the app. Just add a few pictures. A few bullet points. The little swimmers inside her were kind of like bullets, shooting for her eggs. Probably. Fuck me, there's just no way I'm getting out of this without getting knocked up. My belly's going to fucking swell and I'll have to take maternity leave.

Pictures. Some of the graphs she'd prepared. Some slick animations. Every time she shifted, the slick cum filling her pussy and half her womb shifted too. Her panties were definitely ruined by now. Okay, that'd have to do. She'd call the meeting a little earlier if she had to. She couldn't let the cum remain inside her for a moment longer. First the meeting, and then she'd say she wasn't feeling good and had to leave early.

The otter sent out a quick message, clenching as tight as she could as she stood up. A quick glance at her belongings gave her an idea. She didn't need them at the moment but she always carried a pack of tampons with her just in case. A quick_visit to the bathroom and she could trap all that cum inside of her. It'd only make it riskier, but at least it wasn't her _career that she was risking.

So while she waited for her coworkers to notice the message, she dipped into the bathroom, pulled her slimy panties down, stuffed a tampon inside her to make sure the cum didn't leak while she was holding her presentation, and wiped off as much as she could off her matted, feminine mound. There, that'd have to do. God, the idea of getting pregnant like this was actually turning her on, wasn't it? Her poor body was defenseless, doing what it was meant to do, and she'd just ensured that her womb would get to drink as much of the sperm inside her as it wanted to. Fuck. She took one final moment to splash some cold water onto her flushed-looking face, before moving out.

She paused in front of the conference room and tugged her skirt as far down as it'd go, just in case there was any of it left on her thighs. A deep breath, a pretty and confident smile, and... go.

All in all, it went well. Focusing on making a good impression kept her mind off the globs of seed inside her, as much as it felt like everyone saw right through her. As if they could somehow see that she'd been freshly bred. Surely they could smell it, but then again, in this season, it wasn't as if she was alone. She could definitely smell the scent of other aroused women, some of it clinging to the men.

She finished up her presentation, stiffly walking back to her desk, and called her boss to let him know that she was catching a fever. Every moment of the drive back home felt breathlessly arousing, with her cum threatening to leak all over the driver's seat. And yet with each moment her arousal grew, too. She _knew_she'd screwed up, and it only edged her on further. She almost swerved off the road when she, halfway home, felt that tell-tale twinge-tickle deep inside her belly, the one she'd always figured meant ovulation.

She couldn't breathe. Fantasies of her egg being released right into that potent swarm of Rick's little swimmers flooded through her mind, and she pulled over by the side of the road. Thankfully, it was already dark enough that passers-by might not immediately see what she was doing.

And what she was doing was pulling up her skirt and plunging her fingers into her cum-soaked passage, feeling the warm seed inside coat her fingers. The knowledge - the otter couldn't be sure, of course, but somehow she just _knew_she'd just been fertilized - was like taking a bite of the forbidden apple, driving her into feverish, wanton lust. One hand squeezed her clit, roughly. The other pumped in and out of her well-used snatch.

I'm so fucking pregnant.

Her hands moved a little faster. Each brushing rub over her pleasantly thrumming clit was like fireworks going off inside her very core.

Fucking shox, knocking me up like this.

One of her webbed hands clutched at her belly, imagining how it'd look when pregnant. One month, a bump, gradually swelling as the time passed until she was undeniably pregnant, her condition obvious to anyone who looked.

And I let it happen just for a fucking presentation.

That was the part that really got her going. Her slender fingers clutched at one of her breasts. Those would swell too, with milk. Her nipples would grow and darken. So many profound changes, all as a result of just a moment's passion. The otter's breath hitched as she careened towards a shuddering climax, the sound of her heart beating drowning out the noise of passing traffic.

If I fucking cum like this I'll only be making it worse.

If she came, her cervix would dilate just a little bit again. It'd dip down into what cum remained inside her, letting it flow into her. Her contractions would do their best to suck it deeper, on the tiny chance that her tubes weren't already full of Rick's seed. And worse yet, she would cum. She was hornier than she could ever remember being, soaking the seat she'd been so worried about with her juices. Her hips were jerking upwards as she fingered herself towards that promise of climax, and chances were, impregnation. There was nothing she could do, perhaps even less than when she'd had Rick's cock inside her, spurting that warm, sticky pup-batter deep into her womb.

God, fucking, dammit. I'm really going to c-

She let out a loud, dissolute groan. It sounded ear-splittingly loud to herself, like a dam bursting, her last hesitation shattering in a quake of pleasure. Nobody else heard it, not with the drone of traffic and the isolation of her car. Following that helpless groan, she reached her peak. She'd never squirted before, but she felt it happen now, cum-mixed arousal splashing onto her hand as she shivered, trembled, and quivered in her seat, surrendering fully to her body's urges and desires. Humping against her fingers, feeling her inner walls squeeze and milk them, just like they'd milked the shox's cock earlier, which was how she'd gotten into this mess to begin with.

And her fingers were only pushing the remaining cum deeper into her, with each clench of her pussy around them. Her world narrowed down to that sensation, and a blinding hot white - like cum - as she imagined, as in a dream, her lover's seed finding her eggs and making her a mother.

Then it was over. She sighed, slumping back onto her seat. A quick wiping with a tissue later, and a few more minutes to regain her breath, and the otter was on the road again, driving the rest of the way home.

Yet, she _was_still in heat, horny as a teenager.

Not too long after arriving home, she was fiddling with her phone again, wondering if she should call Rick so they could finish what they started. After all, it wasn't as if another rough mating could make things any worse.

Right?

It did mean another load of cum spurting into her, voluntarily this time. But she was already full of it anyway, there was no way it hadn't gotten into every nook and cranny inside her. So really, she tried to rationalize, there wouldn't be any harm in repeating the whole thing. And she was still horny, already getting dirty again despite having had a shower to clean what remained after her previous fun.

A few more moments, spent tapping at the glass screen of her phone.

A few more fluttering fantasies of what'd happen. What might already have happened.

A few more deep breaths. Maybe she was just ready to become a mother.

The idea did make her all tingly, after all. And she had a handsome stud who'd happily help her make sure it happened. Wouldn't it be a shame to deny that? The otter tapped Rick's picture and watched as her phone dialed his number. He'd just have to call in sick too, if that's what it took. After all, he'd started this. He'd better finish it, too. Knot and all.