* * *

It was dark again, and the temperature had plummeted twenty degrees since Arnie left for the slow trudge through a half mile of melting ice and snow to the airstrip on the edge of the village, and she could hear them coming before they passed the general store and post office. Novlik had a distinctive bark that she could pick out over that of any of the dozens of dogs in town. And it carried for miles through the still sub-Arctic night, booming from his huge hairy chest like a cannon's report as he bounced along happily, sliding here and there on the freshly frozen ice while Arnie ran wearily along behind.

In a few minutes, they were pounding on the front door, then bursting in like a couple of carefree kids, slinging slush and snow all over the floor as Novlik shook his heavy fur clean.

"No! Not here! Outside, Novlik, outside!" she shrieked.

Arnie only laughed, but at least stepped back onto the front steps to kick the ice from his boots. "Don't scold him, Flo. It'll melt... He's just happy to see you, that's all. Tell him you missed him, and give him a little pat on the head."

Flo obliged, knowing that to snub Arnie's dog would be a terrible mistake. Sometimes she wondered how she ranked in this household -- whether she was around for Novlik's convenience, or him for hers.

"As soon as you get your wet things off, come on in the kitchen. I've got some steaks on the broiler right now."

"I hope you saved one for Novlik. He's probably awfully hungry after his adventure. Gus told me he hadn't eaten a thing since they picked him up last night at the Mountie Station."

"Mountie Station?" questioned Flo, "I thought he was at the vet's."

Arnie dropped his boots by the heater grill, and closed the hall door. "He was. But the vet had to leave rather unexpectedly, so he dropped him with the RCMP outfit in Old Crow, so he wouldn't have to leave him alone out at the kennel. Good old Gus, he had enough sense to ask around when he got there and the Doc's place was all closed up. One of the vet's neighbors told him where to find Novlik, and he went back into the village and picked him up. He said the Mounties hated to see him go... They don't have any dogs there since they switched to snowmobiles. Some of the old-timers said it was like the old days, having a malamute around again."

Florence was tempted to say the Mounties could have kept the beast, as far as she was concerned, but she thought better of it, and pulled another steak from the refrigerator for him.

Novlik immediately caught the scent of raw meat, and bounded into the kitchen like a charging lion, his thick furry tail wagging excitedly. Flo tossed it to him quickly, before he could jump up on her with his huge paws. She was still carrying a bruise on her side from the last time she'd fed him. It was no use complaining to Arnie about his dog's over enthusiastic friskiness; that dog could do no wrong in Arnie's eyes.

Novlik pranced into the back bedroom, the one he usually had all to himself, and contentedly began working on his two pound steak, pulling it apart with his sharp teeth, the bone crunching easily in his powerful jaws.

Arnie and Flo finished their dinner without another interruption, and settled in the living room afterward, the supper dishes still on the table.

"I told Gus to come right over," said Arnie, "I told him that hot cunt of yours needed some attention, and you'd picked him to do the job."

Flo nearly dropped her gin-and-tonic. "You what!? You didn't really say that did you? Well, did you?"

Arnie was nearly doubled with laughter. "Oh, baby, you should have seen the look on your face. I'd have given a hundred bucks to have a picture of that. You really fell for it, didn't you?"

"Well, it sounded like the kind of thing that twisted mind of yours would dream up," exclaimed Flo, "and besides, with you I never know when you're putting me on."

Arnie downed the last of his bourbon, and helped himself to another healthy slug from the bottle on the counter separating the living room from the kitchen. "I should have told him. It would be a whole lot simpler."

"Oh, no you don't, Arnie Dennison," threatened Flo, waving her fist in a gesture of mock defiance. "You stay out of it. All you have to do is lay the groundwork -- the rest is up to me. It wouldn't be any fun your way. Getting there is half the fun."

Arnie looked at his wife, wondering how most men would feel about a woman like her; a woman who needs more than one man to keep her satisfied. Sometimes he wondered how many men Flo would have if they lived somewhere else, Los Angeles maybe. Just how many one-nighters would she give herself if there were hundreds of men around for the taking? It didn't really bother him, and that was what puzzled him most sometimes.

He was supposed to be jealous and possessive about his woman, at least that was what he'd always been told. But with Flo, it was something different, something exciting, and most of all, completely open and honest. There wasn't any sneaking around in their marriage; everything was done right out in the daylight, with no lies, no excuses.

Of course, he'd never been the ideal devoted husband, either. When the opportunities were there, he'd never been one to turn down a little on the side. And he'd have done a lot more of it if running his company hadn't always taken so damn much of his time.

Flo was getting drunk now, he could always tell. He listened as her words began to blur a little around the edges, and her sentences occasionally took on extra verbs and adjectives. It never took much -- Flo'd never been one to hold her liquor; two or three drinks, and she was under the table.

"You really think that good-looking Swede wants to get in your pants, huh?" he teased, ready for a little fun to keep the evening interesting. "What makes you think you've got anything he wants? You're not quite the little dish you used to be, ya know. Why should he mess around with an old woman like you."

"Old woman!" Arnie sensed he'd struck a tender nerve. "Who the hell's an old woman!? Why, I've got a better body than most girls ten years older than me..."

"You mean ten years younger, don't you, Baby?"

Flo thought it over a second. "Yeah... that's what I meant to say... Anyway, you know what I mean. Here, take a look at this... Is this the body of an old woman?"

She yanked her housedress over her head, and she was wearing nothing underneath, not even panties.

"Goddamn, woman. Is that the way you run around all day? No wonder you're always so horny, galavantin' around with no drawers on. Where's your pants, cunt? Ain't you got any?"

Flo left the dress where it fell, right in front of her on the floor. "Of course I've got some. For your information, Mr. Wise-ass, I was getting ready to take a bath when you and that furry brother of yours came in. That's why I don't have any underwear on, all right?"

"Furry brother, huh? You calling me a son-of-a-bitch?" asked Arnie, staring her right in the face as though he meant it.

"Baby, if the shoe fits, wear it," laughed Flo, lifting her large, firm tits with both hands and aiming them tauntingly in Arnie's direction. "Hey, here comes your brother now. Here, boy! Come see the other SOB! Here, boy!"

Novlik took his cue like a veteran, and bounded into the living room at full speed, barking loudly as he cleared the length of the room in three huge leaps.

"No, Novlik! Don't jump! Don't..." but it was too late. Flo had forgotten her hard-learned lesson; that was, never to call the enormous animal unless she was prepared to be knocked for a spin. He slammed into her chest with his tremendous furry paws and sent her sprawling onto the bearskin in front of the fire, arms and legs flying in every direction, and Novlik -- all one-hundred-and-fifty pounds of him -- right on top of her.

"That's what you get, stupid," roared Arnie, tears of laughter running down his cheeks. "That'll teach you to lay off the booze for a while?"

Flo was futilely struggling to shove the heavy mass of still damp fur off her, cursing the animal at the top of her lungs, "Get off me, you goddamn hippopotamus! Get the hell off!"

"Now, now, Florence," said Arnie with a trace of derision, "you know you shouldn't talk like that around Novlik. He's not used to foul-mouthed broads. Talk nice to him, and he'll do what you tell him."

"Talk nice, my ass!" bellowed Flo, still pinned under the hairy behemoth. "I'll kill him if he doesn't get off me!"

"Here, Novlik... Sit! Over here, fella." Novlik instantly obeyed, stepping right in the middle of Flo's chest as he trotted over to his master's side.

"Shit! That damn beast of yours will be the death of me yet," muttered Flo, brushing the mud off her skin and looking for any broken bones. "How come you don't teach him no manners if he's gonna live in the house like people?"

"He just likes you, sweetheart, that's all... Isn't that right, Novlik?" The huge dog barked twice -- loudly -- and the echoing roar seemed to fill the whole house. "See, cunt, what'd I tell you? He's just a man, like all the rest. He knows a bitch in heat when he sees one."

Novlik left his post and sauntered over to Flo, nuzzling her bare leg affectionately with his cold, wet nose.

Flo grudgingly gave the animal a quick pat, and the enormous dog promptly rolled over on his back, his fluffy tail swishing wildly, and his long, pink tongue trailing from his panting mouth.

"See, I told you he likes you. He wants you to rub his belly."

Flo stroked the downy flesh of his underbelly, and as if on signal, his huge, bright red penis began to swell and poke from its furry sheath.

"You've sure got the knack, all right," laughed Arnie, finishing his third bourbon. "Even the dogs know about that gaping, hot cunt of yours. Give him a little hand job there, sweetie, that's all he wants. Why, he ain't been around no girl dogs in weeks."

Flo pulled her hand away from his belly. "You shut up, Arnie! I don't need to sit here and listen to that kind of talk from you!"

Arnie's smile suddenly melted away, and his eyes seemed almost to grow a shade darker -- and twice as cold. "You'll take any kind of talk I want to give to you, bitch, and don't you forget it! And you'll do what I say... unless you know somebody else who'd put up with your crap! I was only kidding you, cunt, but now I mean it. You're always bragging about how good you are with men. Let's see what you can do with Novlik!"

"You're crazy! You're completely off your nut, you know that!?" answered Flo. "I'm not about to satisfy no dog... for you or anybody else!"

Arnie slowly stood up, put his drink down, and quietly pulled his three-inch leather belt from his belt loops, then doubled it and dragged it lingeringly across the palm of his left hand. Flo felt her skin break out in a million goose bumps as she remembered the last time that hot strap had left bloody blisters across her backside -- the time she'd stayed overnight with that geologist from Chicago without telling Arnie where she was. She knew he meant business, that he'd use that frightening thing on her again if she riled him.

"Okay, Arnie... You win, I'll do it." She dropped to her knees and placed her hand gently on the big dog's heaving belly.

Arnie chuckled as the soft full cheeks of her buttocks faced him and he could make out the narrow hairline slit of her pink open pussy nestled between the ivory columns of her smooth thighs, her fleshy lips pouting as if they were angry.

"You're always one step ahead of me, aren't you bitch?" he said, stepping out of his pants and settling to his knees right behind her. His prick snapped up instantly, already hard and eager. He laughed menacingly, then, "All right, boy! Get ready for a real treat! Tonight you're getting a real human bitch!"

The pink furry skin of the dog's belly lay exposed to her, and with it, the long shaft of his prick. And at the base of his sex, his huge nearly-black testicles like furry golf balls. She took it all in, slowly realizing what her husband had dreamed up for her.

She started to turn around and confront him, but he came over her naked buttocks from behind and grabbed her securely around the waist. "You don't want to be making any sudden moves now, cunt. He might get mad and take a hunk out of you. And we wouldn't want that, would we," he sneered. "You just give him a good blow job, and don't make any quick moves unless..."

"My god, Arnie! Have you lost your mind completely!? I can't do that! Not to a dog! Dear god no... I can't Arnie... I can't do that!"

He only laughed. She was in utter torment, and he wallowed in it. "You fuckin' slut! What makes you think you're too good to suck my friend there? He's more of a man than some of those fruits you run around with! Why, you're not even worthy to suck him... You should feel honored that he'll even let you put those lips of yours on his prick. You'd better reconsider, slut, or I'll change your mind for you!"

He reached for his leather belt, and Flo's mind spun crazily at the prospect of this awful thing he was demanding of her. She knew she had no choice -- he'd use that belt on her without a moment's hesitation. But to do that to a dog! Could she make herself do it...?

"Make up your mind, bitch! What's it gonna be?" he roared.

Her hand shaking like a falling leaf, she slowly reached down and took the forbidding length of his animal prick in her hand.

Novlik squirmed impatiently under her gentle touch.

"Turn your head so I can see you," ordered Arnie. "I wanna see it going in and out of that dog-sucking mouth of yours. Suck it good, now... Suck it!"

Vainly, she tried to blot out all thoughts of what she was doing from her mind, and to hold back the choking wad of nausea filling her stomach. She placed the side of her face on the big animal's warm belly while she fondled his long, fur-encased member with her hand. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stroked it, while Arnie looked on wide-eyed, and suddenly... it appeared... the pointed, red glistening tip of his long prick oozing out of its protective sheath, slowly moving forward. She took long, deep breaths to fight back the nausea...

"Now! Suck it, slut! Suck it!" Arnie yelled.

Holding her breath now, she did it. Pushing it all from her mind, Flo opened her lips and allowed the slender forepart to slide into her mouth... far inside until it touched the back of her throat, then bringing her rough tongue into action. The taste surprised her, amazingly it was almost sweet, and very tangy, even better than some men she'd tasted. The animal responded almost immediately, hunching his rear flanks forward as she sucked and twirled his organ in her mouth. As she moved her hand to his balls, caressing them lightly with her fingertips, a long, low whine came from his throat, and his left rear leg began to quiver convulsively.

Three double shots of booze had dulled her palate, but the taste was surprisingly delicate, not like she'd have imagined, if she'd ever given it any thought. She hollowed her cheeks slightly as the long, tapered shaft shot into her mouth in a steady, pumping rhythm. She closed her teeth, but not enough to hurt the animal, swirling her tongue around his pink member as the excitement of this incredible thing she was doing began to kindle inside her. Somehow, it didn't seem nearly so awful as she anticipated; rather, almost enjoyable in a terribly wicked, forbidden sort of way.

"Suck it, bitch! Suck it good!" Arnie shouted at her, maneuvering his wife's wide-spread buttocks back toward him and gaping greedily at the tight, puckered little entrance to her brown, hairless anus.

His cock jutted forward again, as if it had a mind of its own, and he reached down and pulled the thick foreskin back, then crawled in closer to her backside, dragging his thick penis through the wet juices of her moist pussy to get it well lubricated. Again he did that, delighting in the visible shiver that raced along her spine as his cock brushed the sensitive lips of her ever hungry pussy.

"Put it in!" he barked, gripping her hips tightly like handles. "Hurry up! Stick it in you, slut!"

Obediently, her hand came back around her hips and he watched eagerly as she grasped it tightly and forced its swollen tip into the deliciously tight, constricting ring of her anus. He couldn't hold back a loud gasp as his prick slipped into the taut sheath, the muscular rings clasping it agonizingly tight as his throbbing shaft wormed its way into her asshole. He gave a sharp, deliberate lunge and heard her moan as he inched his hardened cock into the warm, velvet folds of her tender passage.