Animal Lover

He had managed to pull himself onto her back porch. Badly injured, he kept up a low whine. She had followed the sound and flung open the back door.

There was a large canine laying in the lamplight, bleeding, whining.

His fur was the color of a clouded sky, his eyes a soft brown, shining with intelligence. He seemed to look into her brown eyes, pleading for help.

She was cautious. There was no collar; he looked feral. Who knows what an injured wild animal was capable of? If she startled or scared him he looked as if he could easily rip her throat out.

"Sh. Sh. It's OK boy. What's with all the blood?"

She moves slowly, crouching down carefully to get closer to his size and to see if she can assess the damage. She watches as his head swivels and he sniffs of her arm.

"Okay, boy, it's okay. I just want to see what's wrong. I won't hurt you." She mumbles under her breath. "At least I'll try not to."

He looked at the female. She didn't seem scared of him, although he could kill her easily. She was making pleasant noises and getting closer. He smelled of her, to learn her scent.

He jerked, the scent hit him hard.

She froze, neither shying away or moving closer.

She hadn't touched him, hadn't hit him. Was he afraid of that? Is that why he jerked when she came close?

"Sh. Sh. It's OK. I won't hurt you. Let me see."

She brought her hand close to his head again. Stroked his ears, his neck.

He laid his head down on her porch and now the whining alternated with a low rumble in his chest. It didn't sound like a growl. What was he doing? She ran her hand down to his chest and felt the vibration. It was almost like a cat's purr.

Oh, he hurt, but her hands felt good to him and her scent! It was amazing. Wait. What was she doing?

She works her hands over his chest, down a foreleg, then down the other. Gently, making sure nothing was broken and that there was no blood. Then working her hands across his flank and down his rear leg. He whined as that hurt a bit more. She looked at her fingers, there was no sign of blood.

Next she petted him again. Then, leaning over him she slowly works both hands down his legs.

She was trusting him not to bite, to understand she was trying to help him.

Her neck was so near his mouth. He could put his teeth at her throat and bite down easily.

His paws were huge!

She took the front ones with one hand, and the rear with the other. Slowly, carefully, watching him, she began to roll his body over. The damage had to be on the other side. He yelped as some of his fur was caught in the wood and whined again with the pain but made no move to bite her.

Yes. The damage was on his right side. A gash in his shoulder. A ragged tear on his flank. And it looked as though something had chewed his leg to the bone. Blood was still oozing from the rear wounds. She tried to palpate the rear leg near the wound but he bared his teeth at her.

"Easy, easy, boy. Something's made a good mess of you."

She was intoxicating. Even in his current condition he felt a pull.

She scratched him behind the ears. "OK, I'm going to get some water and see if we can clean you up a little."

She goes back into the house while he lays on the porch and pants. He closes his eyes briefly and just breathes. His tongue lolls slightly out of his mouth.

She brings a basin of warm water out and sets it near his head.

Water! Oh, yes, he needed that!

He whined as he shifted his forelegs under him and put his nose to the water, lapping at it.

"Oh, sorry. Here, drink."

She tips the basin towards him to let him get to it more easily.

When he finished she dipped a cloth into the water and wrung it out slightly.

She pushed against his shoulder and he lay back down. "OK, now, this is probably going to hurt."

She touched the wound on his shoulder gingerly and he jerked. She froze, cloth scant millimeters from his skin. He settled down again and she dabbed at it, cleaning out the dirt and leaves as much as she could without hurting him too badly.

He whined and growled a little, but made no move to hurt her.

As she dipped the cloth and wrung it out again he turned and licked her hand.

Her heart jumped into her throat at the sensation. Soft and slightly rough, slick and warm. She had felt dog's tongues before, of course, but this was different and she couldn't quite say how.

He felt better after the water.

Oh, she wanted him to lay back down. What was she doing?

Ow! That hurt.

Cleaning the wound. She was trying to clean out the wound on his shoulder. He could do that himself, but she was getting the debris out of the way. It would be much easier now.

He turned to lick the wound and her hand was so near. He licked her hand first.

Oh, the female's taste was something new. He had both her scent and her taste now.

Ow!

He jerked again as she started to clean the wound on his flank.

The ends were ragged, torn. This wound was deeper.

It came to her. He had been fighting with another of his kind.

She watched as he quietly licked the wound on his shoulder.

Slowly, carefully, she cleaned out the deeper wound, causing it to bleed again. He jerked and whined but simply looked at her with those brown eyes of his.

She mumbles under her breath. "OK, now what do I do with this leg? I can try wrapping it up but he'll probably just rip it off." She pulls the basin a bit closer and picks the leg up to rest it on the edges. She ladles water over the wound, trying to rinse most of the debris away.

Stretching her arm out, she captures the gauze. She uses it to put some of the ragged skin back in place and then picks up his leg to start wrapping the wound. He lays his head back down, never taking his eyes off her face.

As she moves his leg upward farther to get a better angle for wrapping, she's greeted by clear evidence of his sex. A good set of balls under his tail and the penis, showing faintly pink and wet where it's beginning to peak out of his sheath.

She rips the end of the gauze in half and ties it lightly into place.

He watches her, listens to her. Her voice was pleasant to his ears. Her scent was even better. The more she worked, the more was dispersed into the air.

The color of her hair, the brown of her eyes, the look of her skin.

He felt a pull to her and lay down his head to watch what she'd do.

She's wrapping something around the wound on his leg. It hurts some but feels better now that the air isn't blowing across the bare nerves.

She briefly considered trying to get him into the house but she couldn't pick him up and was concerned that he might bite her if she tried. Besides, since he was feral, he wouldn't be housebroken and he could really make a mess in there.

So she settled for pulling out an old blanket and tucking it around him. He gave a little huff and laid his head on it.

What would he eat? Raw meat, of course, eggs, grubs, frogs, birds. He certainly couldn't hunt in his condition. So, what did she have in the freezer?

She kept going back into the house for things, carefully closing the door behind her. He opened his mouth and rolled her scent over his tongue.

The blanket she had placed around him smelled primarily of manmade chemicals, some burned his nose, but also carried her scent.

He laid his head down, his nose pointed to a corner, where her scent was concentrated. He was tired and his eyes began to close.

Meat! His eyes flew open, his head jerked up, and he rolled to his chest. Ow!

She microwaved a beef roast she'd never gotten around to making and sawed off a few good sized slabs. A couple of minutes to get them thawed, warm, and leaking juices and she brought the plate to the door.

She heard him yelp briefly. He had jerked almost upright.

"OK, boy, easy. Stay there. I'll bring it to you."

He wanted it, that was plain, but she needed to do this slowly or he might bite her trying to get to it.

"Now, I'm just going to put this in front of you. Stay calm."

Those chocolate eyes watched carefully as she lowered the plate, then used her toe to push it closer.

He sniffed, whimpered, and gingerly took the first piece. Gone! Another piece that disappeared almost as quickly. Within a minute the meat was gone and he licked the juices off the plate.

"Good. Or, good enough, huh? Let's get you another plateful."

The process was repeated until a 5 pound roast disappeared.

Warm and bloody, if a little funny tasting because of the cooking.

She brought out several platesful of meat and he ate until he was stuffed, finishing all she brought to him.

Then he had some more water and lay back down on the blanket. His eyes began to close again.

"Alright, boy, it's getting late. I'm gonna get some sleep too. I'll see you in the morning." As she turned back to the door, he began whining. She stopped in the doorway, listening, eyes closed.

"Look. I'll be just inside. I'll be out in the morning."

More whining.

"Alright, alright. I'm not gonna get any sleep out here. You're lucky I don't have to go to work tomorrow."

She was going inside. No. He needed her to stay out here with him. He needed her here. How could he get her to stay?

His displeasure and pain came out in the usual way, a whine.

She hesitated. Just a little more convincing. Another whine.

Yes! She was staying out here, with him.

When she went back in, he whined until she came out, with a blanket and a pillow.

So, she went inside, grabbed another blanket and her pillow. With a sigh, she pushed open the back door. The whining stopped and his tail thumped on the porch boards.

"Yeah. I'm glad you're happy. I'm gonna need a masseuse in the morning."

She flipped the pad over on her outside bench, tossed the pillow down and curled up on the bench, wrapping herself in the blanket. "Happy now?"

She swore he grinned at her. "Alright, boy, goodnight."

She murmurs half to herself. "I can't keep calling you boy, can I? Have to figure out a name for you..."

The next morning she wakes to the dawn, cramped and sore with those chocolate eyes Half asleep yet, she stretches, yawns, and says, "Morning, Emmett."

He picks his head up and his tail thumps on the floorboards.

She looks at him. "Emmett, huh?" The tail thumps again. "You look better this morning." He gives a slight whine. "Shall we see what's for breakfast?"

She gets up, groans and stretches again. She turns to go inside and he struggles to his feet, holding up his damaged rear leg. She opens the door and he makes to follow her in. "No. No. You stay out here." She closes the door and looks at him. He looks up at her. She starts to open the door again and he sticks his nose in the crack. "NO!"

He jerks and she slams the door. Looking up at her, he whines again. She stands there, hands on her hips. It's a standoff.

She crouches down in front of him and he takes the opportunity to lick her face. "What am I going to do with you?" Chocolate eyes bore into darker brown. She sighs. "Alright. But, I swear, if you make a mess I'll shut you out and you'll stay out. Got it?"

She opens the door and he limps inside, nose up, sniffing. She follows, watching. His nose leads him to the kitchen and she moves quickly. "Oh, no, you stay out of the garbage can." She pulls the can into the pantry and closes the door.

"Now, Emmett, breakfast, let's see..."

She starts rummaging. "I've got chicken and pork although I don't fancy you eating either raw. The ribeyes are for this afternoon. Hmm." More looking. "Uww. Hamburger. I'll mix an egg in it."

He wasn't all that hungry after what she had fed him the night before and was mostly content just to be near her.

She puttered around the small kitchen, humming quietly. She set a place at the table and brought out milk and cereal as the meat thawed in the microwave.

A pan full of water was placed on the floor in the corner. He limped over to take a drink.

She cracked a couple of eggs and mixed them in with the hamburger and set the metal bowl on the floor. With a pat to his head she said, "There you go, Emmett."

She washed her hands and attended to her own breakfast. After finishing what she had given him, he wandered over and laid at her feet.

She hummed as she worked in the kitchen. She set a couple of steaks to marinate then scrubbed off some potatoes. After a minute or two in the microwave, she wrapped them in aluminum foil. Then she started doing dishes.

He whined at the back door and she let him out. "Nature calls, huh?"

She watched briefly as he headed for the back of the yard, thinking that, since he was fed and feeling better, he might just disappear into the woods. She says quietly, "Have a nice life, Emmett."

She leaves the door open, leaving the screen door in place, since it looked to be a nice day.

Finishing the dishes, she went upstairs to shower and change.

He went out to the treeline, then past it. Pissing was awkward, since he usually balanced on the damaged leg, but he managed not to get it all over himself. He marked a corner tree on the lot. Further out, he left a slightly steaming pile behind him.

He slowly made his way down the ravine and up the other side. His attacker, his competition, lay dead in the field beyond. He checked the body to be certain but there was no evidence of life. One last sniff and he heads for the ravine again.

At the other corner of the property he managed a couple of squirts on a rock.

OK, good enough for now. He heads back to her back porch. Arriving at the screen door, he whines to be let back in. Nothing. He barks to get her attention. Still nothing.

He paws at the door. It doesn't move, doesn't open.

That's it. He was getting inside.

Through the screen on the door and into the house. He panics slightly when he doesn't hear her downstairs. Listening, he hears the water running. He carefully climbs the stairs.

She's singing to herself as she washes up. The bathroom door is ajar since there's no ceiling fan to remove the humidity. He sticks his snout in the space and pushes the door open. His nails click on the tile as he enters the bathroom.

He sits on his haunches watching, waiting, listening as the singing stops, and the moaning begins.