Rex made a little sound and panted, his long, slavering tongue stroking her knees, one forepaw coming up to rest on her bared thigh.

For just a moment Jan was startled. The look in the dog's eyes was so sexually warm… for a moment she imagined that – but no, that was impossible. She must be imagining it.

But did she imagine the sharp tremor of excitement as his hot, wet tongue licked teasingly at her skin?

Silly girl, she thought.

"What's the matter, precious?" she softly cooed, scratching his ears in the back. "Hungry? Thirsty? Jan will fix it for you." She affectionately stroked the mighty dog's big, sleek-furred head. He had such a lovely gloss on his fur she could almost see her face in it. "Goodness, you have a wicked gleam in those big brown, lovable eyes. You ought to behave yourself. One would think you were a young man instead of a young dog," Jan laughed to herself.

Jan's soft, crooning voice was so silkily pleasant that, coupled with the gentle pressure of her slender, stroking hand, Rex was filled with a warm-hearted relish that was pleasantly musical. Instinctively he raised his head, licking at the smooth back of her hand, to show her that he liked her. Whatever had troubled her was of relative unimportance, he knew, because her soft hand moved on his furry neck, and then she hugged him against her cream-white outer thigh.

"It's easy to see how Marge gets attached to you," Jan smiled, tugging at his collar. "By God, you are a lovable beast," the doting, voluptuous young blonde wife teased. She got up abruptly and smoothed her skirt. "Well, let's look in the refrigerator and see if we can find something for you, handsome. There might even be a nice big bone in there for you."

Rex made a liquid sound, almost as if he understood what she was saying. Jan embraced him against her leg once more and stroked his soft, sleek head. She lightly laughed. There was something about Rex that made one feel funny, but she couldn't put her finger on just what it was. She hoped she was doing right by letting him go untied. She knew that Marge never did that.