And she felt nothing.
She could not be sure if Roy knew. He gripped her with his strong, square hands and tongued her ear and said all the right things as he approached orgasm, but Karyn was not sure that he believed her response. At least, she told herself, he had climaxed. Her performance was not wasted.
Afterward he rolled over and slept. Karyn lay beside him trying to sleep too. But as the minutes ticked into hours she gave it up and lay waiting, listening. She knew it would come, as surely as death. And it did come. The distant ululation. The mournful sinister night cry. The howling.
After that she slept fitfully, waking up time and again to listen breathlessly to the night. Finally she came awake with a start to find that it was light and Roy was gone from the bed. She could smell coffee perking in the kitchen, and hurried to join her husband.
That day, and the next, and the next, Karyn and Roy did not go into the village of Drago. They stayed close to the little house, walking on the trails in the forest and delighting in the birds and wild flowers. Lady loved these outings. She would rush joyfully ahead barking officiously at anything that moved, as though clearing the path for her people. Although Karyn and Roy kept up the pretense of enjoying each other, each was occupied with thoughts that could not be shared.
In the evenings they played cribbage or backgammon. Having no television set, they rediscovered the radio. Sometimes Karyn would read from the stack of paperbacks she had brought from the city while Roy worked at the kitchen table going over the list of his company's technical publications.
At night Karyn tried to let go during sex, but, it became harder all the time to pretend she was enjoying it. Roy's lovemaking became perfunctory, and at last he merely kissed her goodnight and turned away. Then while he slept Karyn would lie on her back, her muscles taut, and stare into the dark.
Every night now, the howling came. Karyn no longer asked Roy if he heard it. He never seemed to. Karyn was afraid that if she talked about it he would say it was all in her head. She knew better. Something was out there. Something.
By the end of the first week Karyn had dug out the bottle containing the remaining Seconals the doctor in Los Angeles had prescribed when she came home from the hospital. She had never liked taking pills, but at last she was able to sleep soundly.
Roy began to walk in the forest by himself. His excuse was that he wanted to gather wood for the fireplace but Karyn knew there was all the wood they needed within fifty yards of the house. The real reason had to be that he wanted to get away from her.
She became convinced of it the day of Roy's first trip into Los Angeles. Although he made a show of reluctance to leave their wilderness paradise, his eagerness was not hard to read. She watched the Ford disappear down the narrow lane with an increasing sense of fear and uneasiness.
The day was cool with a high overcast. Karyn vowed to pull herself out of her funk. She put on a heavy sweater and took Lady for a long walk through the woods. For a city girl, she had a remarkable sense of direction, and there was never any problem finding her way back.
Returning home around noon, she washed the walls and windows, even though they didn't need it. She fixed herself a sandwich, fed the dog, and shuffled through the books without finding one she wanted to read. She began looking up the road for Roy long before he was due to return.
When at last he drove into the yard, Karyn ran out to meet him and they hugged each other enthusiastically and walked back to the house arm in arm.
Karyn had prepared a small roast for their meal. It came out perfectly — crispy brown on the outside, pink and tender within. The candles provided an intimate glow, and the talk came easy. It was almost the way it had been before their trouble started.
After dinner Karyn fed Lady and let her outside while Roy poured their brandy. They moved into the living room and sat close together by the fireplace. Their legs touched, and for the first time in months Karyn felt a surge of desire for her husband.
'Roy,' she said, 'let's go to bed.'
'Sleepy already?'
She shook her head, holding the warm pressure of her thigh against him. 'Nope.'
Roy looked at her closely for a moment, then took her into his arms. He kissed her. She returned the kiss with feeling. Everything about him — his hands on her back, the taste of his mouth, even the short stubble of beard — excited her.
'Let's not waste any more time,' he said. They stood up together and he led her into the bedroom.
When they were lying together, Karyn rolled onto her side to face him. Roy's hand roved across her rib cage and up over the swell of her hip. She reached down for his sex and found him erect and hard. The touch of him in her hand was good. His fingers trailed down across her flat stomach and into the blond fluff of pubic hair. She felt herself open willingly and go moist under his touch.
Roy was kissing her breast, teasing the erect nipple with his tongue. His hand was up between her legs, stroking, massaging. Karyn was ready for him. As ready as she would ever be. Then she heard it.
The howling.
Not far off in the woods this time, but close outside. Close, deep throated, and cold as death.
'Roy!' she said, sitting up in bed.
'I heard it,' he said. He pulled himself up beside her, but his voice did not reflect the urgency that Karyn felt.
Roy's hand moved between her legs. His head dipped again to her breast.
'What was it?' Karyn said. She was whispering without knowing why.
'I don't know. An owl.' His tone took on an edge of impatience.
'Not an owl,' she said.
'Who cares? Come on, Karyn, lie down.'
Obediently Karyn lay back on the sheet. She tried hard to recover the mood of a few moments before, but the terrible howling still sounded in her brain. How could Roy ignore it?
His head moved lower on her body. She could feel his tongue tracing a moist line across her navel and on down…
Abruptly it was not her husband kissing her down there, it was that horrible other thing. The teeth.
With a startled cry she drew away from him.
He pulled himself up. 'What?'
Karyn reached out to him, trying to make her touch affectionate, though she still felt the unreasoning revulsion. 'I'm sorry, Roy. I–I don't think I can.'
'But just a minute ago — '
'I know,' she said quickly. 'I know, Roy, but now I can't.'
'Jesus,' he said through clenched teeth, and turned away from her. His broad naked back was like a wall in the middle of the bed.
'Please, darling,' she said, 'be patient with me for a little while longer.'
He gave her an unconvincing pat on the shoulder. 'Sure, Karyn, it's all right. I'm just keyed up after driving out from the city.'
But it was not all right, and they both knew it. Karyn's throat filled up with words she wanted to say to her husband but could not:
Karyn forced her mind back from the brink of hysteria, and at last fell into a shallow sleep.
In the morning she was the first one up. She combed out her hair and went into the kitchen. She would prepare a lovely breakfast for Roy — ham-and-cheese omelet with hot muffins, and rich black coffee. But first she had to feed the dog. She took a can of Alpo from the cupboard, then wondered why Lady did not come trotting in at the sound of the can on the countertop. Then she remembered that no one had let her back in last night. Karyn went to open the front door. The dog was not in sight.
Karyn stepped outside and called the dog's name. The forest was unusually silent on this gray, damp day, the
