"Would you like a drink?" the physician invited.
"No thanks. I'd like a bit more information, though."
"Shoot."
"Y-you're certain the dog actually raped her?"
The little man made a shrugging motion. "How certain can you be? Intercourse, yes. The presence of the dog's sperm, yes. Absolutely!"
"But he didn't hurt her," Mark enthusiastically pressed.
"I said there were no marks indicating that. No, none. Positively none. And I am as amazed as you are, Mark. It seems almost diabolical, doesn't it?"
"I-I don't know, Dr. Hemmings. Christ, I really don't know what to think," Mark heard himself reply, his mind whirling. "Those crazy rumors that have been going around. That it's Liz Clark's runaway pet and that Clete always hated the animal. How is Liz, anyway?"
"Oh, she's fine. She's mentioned the dog to me, you know. He's the leader of a pack now."
"Do you believe it, Doc?"
The tall man offered an excusing smile. "I'm a doctor, Mark. For nearly twenty years I believe only what I see, feel, taste, know to be fact. And that's hard to believe. All of this is near incredible."
"That's strange coming from a man of the cloth," Mark commented. Mark felt a cold shiver move over him. "I mean, what would you say to it?"
"Liz is a strange young woman, that's all I can say."
"Yeah, I've always thought so. I've talked to her, too. DesirЋe is best friends with her, but I wish she'd leave DesirЋe alone," Mark said, slowly standing up from the table. "It… it can't be true, can it, Dr. Hemmings?"
The tall man had poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher on the table. He quietly sat himself into a chair across from Mark, sipped first, then stared off beyond. "I truly don't know how to answer you, Mark. I've spent a long time in my two professions and this is the first case of this nature I've ever encountered. I have to deal only with the facts, I repeat, that's the nature of my first profession. Yours requires more, and that's your problem, if I may say so. But to answer you, Mark, can it be true? I say, everything is true until it's proven false, and that's the law of the universe!"
"But… But it can't be, really, can it? Christ, it can't be!"
The tall man smiled wryly and nodded as he raised his glass of water. "I know," he said, "I know what you mean."
CHAPTER FIVE
Though she had done it many times, DesirЋe felt strange standing on Liz Clark's front porch and knocking, for it was the purpose of her visit that filled her with trepidation. For almost as long as she had lived here, DesirЋe had been coming to visit the pretty bleach-blonde thirty-year-old at least twice a week, and they were fast friends. The only thing that DesirЋe didn't particularly like about the older woman had been her liaison with Clete, for she could never quite get over her aversion to interracial romances. She, DesirЋe, could never be so involved, and the idea of her friend's doing it put her off. But then Clete and Liz had split up and DesirЋe didn't have to worry about running into him when she visited her friend, didn't have to endure his creepy leer.
But her reason for this visit now was linked to Clete's new fiancee, or rather, what had happened to her, and whether the rumors about the perpetrator's, the dog's, being Liz's runaway pet were true.
Liz answered the door, stuck her head out quickly, looking up and down the street, and then hastily pulled DesirЋe inside.
"Liz, what's going on?" DesirЋe asked, surprised at her friend's manner. "You act like a woman hunted."
Liz curled up on the couch, pulling her long legs up under her, and glanced behind her out the window, again, cautiously. As DesirЋe sat in a stuffed chair opposite, Liz was a shadowy silhouette against the glare of the sun through the window behind her.
"That's exactly what I am, Dezzy," Liz replied. "Exactly that. They're blaming me for what happened to Nancy." Liz lit a cigarette. "At least some people are, and one of them is Clete Anderson."
"Why, how can he blame you, Liz? You had nothing to do with it."
Liz took two drags on her cigarette. "Not directly, no. But…"
DesirЋe looked at her friend, waiting for the answer to the mystery in the truncated sentence. "Come on, Liz. Tell me what you mean…"
Liz laughed bitterly. "Clete and I, you know, we used to be real close. You know that. But he and Lobo hate each other with a bloody passion."
"Lobo?" DesirЋe leaned forward in her seat.
"Lobo," Liz said with a nod. "Lobo is his name. He's my dog."
DesirЋe caught her breath. "Then the rumors are true."
The older woman nodded again. "Completely. My pet from a puppy. My lover long before I knew Clete."
DesirЋe's eyes widened, only half comprehending what the other had said. "Lover?"
Liz glanced behind herself again and drew the curtains. She spoke in a low voice, as if afraid to be heard. There was no doubt that she was. "Clete and Lobo were jealous of me. At first it was Lobo that was upset. You know Clete used to come here. We were lovers, and Clete's huge cock – excuse my Greek – kept me happy most of the time. A woman needs a man for a lover and companion, and Clete's got a lot of sex appeal."
DesirЋe closed her eyes briefly and thought of Mark, what they had done yesterday, how she had craved his hard, thrusting penis, how she knew she would want it again, how she wanted it at this very moment, even though he was busy at work and completely inaccessible.
DesirЋe nodded, understanding a woman's need, yet still not understanding how Liz could let Clete touch her. She stopped trying to understand as Liz went on.
"The big blowout came when Clete came home and caught me with Lobo in bed."
DesirЋe shook her head, Liz's meaning not clear. "In bed?"
Liz looked at DesirЋe and smiled. "I always wanted to tell you, sweetie, but I didn't want to scare you. Lobo was my lover, before Clete. You've still got that silly look on your face. Darling, Lobo used to screw me, fuck me with his cock, just like he did to Nancy Pace. Only with me it wasn't rape. I wanted him. Lobo. I taught him how, a few years ago when I was lonely and hated men, after my divorce. He was just a little more than a pup."
The younger woman sat with blue eyes wide with horror and disbelief. A dog, fucking her friend Liz? It was too much to take in. "Liz…" DesirЋe gasped. "Liz, you didn't!"
Liz laughed. "Baby, I did, and I loved every inch of it." Liz sat back, puffing her cigarette and reminiscing. "Now, it's said. I never liked hiding anything from you. You've been a real friend, and I often wanted to share him with you, but I knew you'd be put off."
"Liz!" was all DesirЋe could say.
"Oh, sweetie, there's nothing like it. When he licks a girl's pussy and tits, she goes weak. And when he pushes his big, beautiful cock into you and fucks you like a triphammer, you're his slave forever. After that, all he has to do is come near you and you go into spasms."
DesirЋe sat there aghast, tingling with shock. She's couldn't believe that Liz was even talking this way. "Liz, you know I could never…"
Liz nodded. "Baby, I know it. But he'll never come around here again. Clete ran him off when he caught us together, beat him with a table so he was near dead. He barely got away, but it looks like he's back to strength and out looking for a female of his own. He could be looking for you right now, Dezzy. He saw you when you'd come to visit. Remember how he used to sniff around your butt and lick you knees?"
DesirЋe remembered, and shuddered. No, no, no! her mind screamed. She couldn't believe she had been that close to the evil dog. She rose, her lips trembling. "I can't believe you'd say that to me, Liz."
"Dez, I can't help it. I'm only being honest. But I'll never see my darling Lobo again. Clete hurt him so bad he'll never come back here. He thinks I'm with Clete and have rejected him. But now that they're both gone, I still think of Lobo. He's the real noble savage in these parts."
The young woman backed away, her knees weak. "Liz, I've got to go. I can't listen to this anymore."