So I let him sniff and even lick. I don't know what came over me. Anyhow, I sort of lay on that rock while he was licking... and... well, when he clim...ed over me I thought he was just playing. I didn't think a dog could get into a woman if she was lying on her back." And you just lay there and let him try." Well..." And fought like hell after he was all the way in, I suppose." Brrr! I tell you, Leanne, it was too late to do anything by the time I realized he could really... could really get all. Her words had stirred memories, and the corners ofhis eyes began to moisten at those unpleasant memories. "No!" heanswered sharply. "They just hated me. They ... made my life hell,because they didn't ... love me." He was fighting a losing battle tocontain his anger at what they'd done to him over the years. "How ...how did you know? That I ran away, I mean." It wasn't hard to find out," Rachel said with a smile. She noted fromthe tone of his answer that there probably _was_ abuse of some. As I've told both Sarah and Nikki on many occasions, the vast majorityof the population aren't lucky enough to have the first person they goout with be their soul mate. Or the second person they go out with, orthe third, fourth, fifth... Or however many I'm up to by now. Beckydoes kind of have a point about hetero versus same-sex relationships-there isn't a single thing that Sarah and Nikki don't share, andnothing they can't share, either. I'm not exactly going to be able totalk about fashion. We'vemanaged to stay out of the spotlight in Smallville for the most part. Oneof Claire's super-feats would make the newspapers back east every now andthen, but it was almost as if most people didn't really believe sheexisted. The Army brass came out a few times and satisfied themselvesthat Claire was here for good. A couple of years ago, after she capturedthe Ultra-Humanite, she even got to meet President Truman, something thatmade her very proud. Me too. I've been a Democrat since the cradle,.