by Roxie Noir
Nothing.
Houston sighed and knocked.
“It’s open,” Kirsten’s voice called, but Houston looked down at the dog and knocked again.
A few seconds later, Kirsten swung the door open.
“It’s un— KATIE!”
Instantly, Kirsten was on her knees, her arms around the dog. Katie knocked her backwards with boundless enthusiasm, licking her face and wagging her whole body, letting out little yips of sheer delight and Kirsten laughed and laughed, flat on her back now.
“How did you get her?” Kirsten gasped, grabbing Katie’s ears and rubbing them.
Jack and Houston exchanged a glance.
“She escaped,” Jack said. “Dug a hole clear under the fence.”
Kirsten grabbed Katie’s ears again, wiggling them from side to side.
“Are you an escape artist?” she asked the dog, who licked her face. “Or did they do something illegal?”
Jack laughed, and the two of them stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Her living room had nothing in it but boxes, stacked floor to ceiling, and now Katie bounded back and forth, racing from the wall to Kirsten and back again, like she simply had no idea what to do with all her joy.
That’s the happiest dog I’ve ever seen, Jack thought.
Finally, Kirsten sat up and scooted to sit against a wall, her face glowing, and wiped her hands on her jeans.
Something glinted on her left hand.
“Thank you,” she said.
Jack grinned.
“Not a problem,” he said. He sat down on the floor next to her and lifted her left hand, letting the silver band shine in the ugly overhead light.
“You’re wearing it,” he said, simply.
“Yeah,” Kirsten said softly.
Houston sat on the floor on her other side.
“This mean we’re married again?” Jack asked. He flipped her hand over and kissed it.
“We were always married,” Kirsten said, leaning back against the wall. Houston put an arm around her.
“I never took my ring off,” Jack teased her.
“Well, we can’t all be perfect,” she said, lacing her fingers through Jack’s.
“It looks good,” said Houston. “I like it there.”
Katie came over and began investigating Jack and Houston. She didn’t quite seem one hundred percent sold on them yet, but she wagged her tail as she sniffed them, and Houston rubbed her ears.
“Can I make one rule?” he asked.
“Maybe,” said Kirsten. “What’s the rule?”
“No dogs on the bed,” he said.
Katie ran off and did a couple of excited laps around the living room, and Kirsten looked up at him, a wicked grin on her face.
“What about dogs in the bed?” she asked.
“Uh oh,” said Jack. Over Kirsten’s head, he could see Houston’s eyebrows go up, the start of a devilish smile around his eyes.
“Did you just call me a dog?” Houston asked, narrowing his eyes in mock anger.
Kirsten leaned her head back against his arm and traced her finger in a circle on Houston’s jeans.
“Well, you’re both canines, right?” she said.
Jack leaned over her, putting his face against her hair, and grinned at Houston.
“I think she wants us to show her the difference between dogs and wolves,” he said.
“I don’t think she’s given us a choice,” said Houston.
Kirsten giggled quietly between the two of them.
“Worse, she knows exactly what she’s doing,” said Jack, grinning.
In a flash, he was on his feet, pulling Kirsten up and then lifting her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry to the bedroom. Houston and Katie both followed, but Houston closed the door before the dog could come in. Then he leaned against it, watching for a moment.
Jack tossed Kirsten on the bed, listening to her laugh, then knelt behind her, pulling her up in front of him, both kneeling and facing the end of the bed. He bent his head and nipped her on the neck as Houston sauntered over.
Kirsten grabbed Houston by the belt, letting one thumb wander over the dark trail of hair leading from his navel downward, getting a quiet growl from him.
“What’s the difference, then?” she asked. “Dogs do as they’re told?”
It had been five days since they’d seen her, and Jack could feel his control slipping away with every moment that their bodies were pressed together, every fiber of his being aching with pure need.
“The difference is,” Jack said, his lips against Kirsten’s ear, “wolves will make you howl.”