Chapter 10

Once airborne, Paul Arden unfastened the safety-belt and tried to relax. He was more than just a little upset at Leduc's concern over Janet's condition. This morning, just prior to the Embassy's calling him and informing him that the Ambassador had a special mission for him to carry out in Brussels and that he was to return to Paris at once, Doctor Leduc had recommended a complete rest for Janet at some quiet sanitarium, else he would not be responsible for what was inevitably to come. Janet, he said, was on the verge of total mental collapse. Of course, he had given his permission.

My God, he couldn't believe it! His own beautiful Janet... ill to such an extent. He supposed he had known that ever since the first night of their honeymoon she was tormented with some mental disturbance, but on the verge of complete collapse... ? Heavenly Father! He wondered if he should inform her family... had been debating over it, in fact, ever since he left Dives, but now decided against it. She was receiving the finest of care in Doctor Leduc, and he felt fortunate that he had been able to leave her with them while he made this emergency trip.

Then, his mind filled with the unbelievable licentious festivities he had witnessed and taken part in the night before. His face flushed a bright crimson as he recalled the way he and Danielle Leduc had cavorted together in the vilest of sexual indulgences... and the others, swapping wives and husbands about in the manner of a true Saturnalian orgy... He still couldn't believe it. Thank God, his Janet had been exposed to none of it. She certainly would have lost her balance, with her Puritanistic upbringing, had she walked into that apartment.

But what of Leduc himself? Surely, he must be aware that these debauched activities take place under his roof... must even sanction them, and perhaps participate at certain times. Damn. It was all so overwhelming and difficult to comprehend. He'd never figured himself to be a prude, and was well aware of the wife-swapping fad and other such promiscuous dissipation's, but this had been the ultimate in bacchanalias. He found himself grinning slyly. Nero would have been happy to have been on the guest list, he mused.

Well, he'd always been given to understand that much more license was taken in Europe amongst married couples, and now he had the proof of it. And oddly enough, he found that he felt no less attracted to any of them... in fact, if anything, he experienced a sense of closer relationship with each and all of them... a sort of private, pleasant, cliquish feeling.

And he was not going to worry about Janet. She was in good, competent hands... friendly hands. Perhaps a week or so of rest as the Frenchman had suggested would do her worlds of good. He hoped so. God... he really did love her with all of his heart.

He lay his head back against the seat and let individual events of the evening pass through his mind, until shortly, he felt his member stirring lustfully. He hoped this mission was not going to take too long. He was damned anxious to get back.

Janet stirred restlessly in the small bed. Her eyes fluttered open and struggled with the sunless daylight seeping in through the little window of the cell-like room. The stale air was warm and thick and strange odors wafted through her nostrils, causing her brow to wrinkle slightly, as though in deep concentrated thought.

Her vision adjusted slowly and she saw that the room was barren, foreign to her, and that she wore a white, coarse gown and was covered with a single sheet and white spread. Her tongue circled her lips, tasting the slight pungency of a sticky moistness around them. She was momentarily at complete loss, she thought to herself, through the haze that still clouded her half-dimmed mind.

She lay quietly and tried to remember... and after a moment incidents began to creep from the recesses of her memory bank and form into little incomplete pictures... lewd pictures of impossibly vile, perverted acts in which she had taken part... No... no! It was possible! She had dreamed it! Yes, that was it... a horrible, revulsive dream... but it had seemed so real!

Paul! Where was Paul? She sat up quickly and her head swam with the effort; her stomach threatened to revolt and slowly she dropped back onto the pillow. Little twinges of fear began to come alive inside her. Had she been ill? Her body ached terribly; she felt so weak and nauseous... and this room... I Where was she? Again, she looked toward the window and saw the heavy screening covering it on the outside... and the closed door... it had no inside knob; there was a small, square glassed opening covered with the same heavy screening in its upper center... like a cell!

Once more, she forced her brain to retrace the visions it had conjured for her moments before. The vividness of them flickered across her mind as though she were watching a slightly out of focus television screen. Carefully, she commenced a self-exploration, smoothing her hands gently under the covers and beneath her gown up to her breasts. Ohhh, my God, they're tender. Her hands explored farther, coursing their way down over her stomach to her thighs and she spread them a little ways apart. She groaned again as her fingers touched tenderly the slight bruises lining the soft edges of her vagina. Her fingers probed carefully about the red sensitive opening, the tips becoming moist from the white, sticky liquid oozing viscously from it, wetting the split of her buttocks and the bed beneath. The tickling caused from the little rivulet made her flex her crotch muscles, and once more she winced from the burning pain in her rectum.

Lord above! Had it all actually happened? Or had Paul raped her again... perhaps when she was unconscious from what ever it was Doctor Leduc was treating her for... ? Doctor Leduc? My God, in her dream, he had made her call him Master! And Madame Leduc had been there... all of them committing deplorably salacious acts on each other... and the dog, Vailante... ! Dear Jesus, the dog! Had it actually happened?... she and the dog?

Wild thoughts raced through her mind one after another. Or was it possible that she had done this to herself... in the throes of fever, perhaps... ? Yes... it was possible she thought. She had done it before in extreme moments of frustration... but never like this. She had never gone to such extremes even in her wildest moments of desire. Could her own hand have probed so deep into her stomach and left this hot, gurgling pool that seemed lodged there now... or had that vile dog truly mounted her?

A feeling of deep shame crept over her. She had denied her Paul the right to do things to her time and again, a right that was his... and then she had stooped to the vilest acts of lust... even with an animal. Dear God in heaven, I must be insane! That's what's the matter with me... why I'm here locked away... why the window and door are barred! I'm losing my mind... turning into an animal myself... !

A noise at the door caused her to close her eyes quickly and to pretend at sleep. She heard it open and someone enter. There seemed to be more than one but she didn't open her eyes to see, only waited.

"She still sleeps," a strange voice said.

The aroma of perfume drifted to her, then she heard the voice of Madame Leduc.

"She is lovely... like a child lying there."

"Oui, but let us remember that she is a commodity, ma chere," replied Doctor Leduc.

"Of course, cheri. I merely mentioned it in passing," the woman said. "Are you going to awaken her?"

"Oui. I want her to have her... ah... medication regularly so that we can keep her in an amorous mood... if you know what I mean," said Leduc with a little chuckle.

"And hypnosis?" questioned the Madam.

"No longer necessary, ma chere. My post-hypnotic suggestions are well planted in her mind. She feels she must have her shot daily or go into painful withdrawal... and of course, the Dhattura takes care of the rest." Then, he addressed the third party, "Are you certain, Erabas, that she hasn't awakened since we brought her?"

"I have watched closely. I am certain, Master," the strange voice answered in a deep, strong tone.

"Very well..."

Janet felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. She had to steel herself to keep from cringing. Then, the Doctors voice said, "Madame... Madame Arden... wake up... it is Doctor Leduc."

Janet feigned a moan, rolled her head lightly from side to side, then let her eyes flutter open in blank confusion.

"How do you feel, ma chere?" he questioned gently, smiling down at her.

Momentarily, Janet did not speak, but let her eyes rove over their faces and the surroundings as if she were truly awakening from a deep stupor. They paused to rest briefly on the huge brown man who stood with arms folded across his naked, muscular chest like some eunuch overseer in a harem. He smiled at her showing a mouthful of hard, white teeth. He was completely hairless and a heavy earring hung from the lobe of his left ear. She felt a shudder pass over her as her eyes came back to the doctor.

"I-I... where am I? What hap... happened to me?"

Leduc patted her hand tenderly. "You have had a trying time... a rather serious nervous collapse, and you are now in a sanitarium outside of Paris."

"Nerv... nervous col... lapse?" Janet stammered, moving her head negatively in disbelief.

"Yes... but there is nothing to worry about now. You're coming along fine," assured Leduc.

"Paul... where is my husband?"

Again, the suave Frenchman patted her hand warmly. "He has been called away, ma chere. Right after it happened. He thought it best to move you here where you would be properly looked after and I could tend you. The Embassy has sent him on a special mission, but I'm sure he'll be returning in a week or so..."

"A week or so! You mean, I have to remain here... ?"

Madame Leduc moved close to the bed and smiled down at her as she tenderly smoothed her brow. "It is best, cheri... after what happened, and until you are feeling better."

Again, Janet shook her head. "I-I don't understand... what did happen... ?"

The Madame looked to her husband as if she were reluctant to speak and the Doctor said, "You were quite ill, ma chere... mentally disturbed... We found you with our dog, Vailante..."

He paused and Janet pressed. "Yes, yes, go on..."

Leduc shrugged. "You were having intercourse with him."

Janet's mouth fell open in abject horror... but it was partially fabricated, for she knew now that they were lying to her, that she had not dreamed those vile things that had taken place. They had actually occurred... lewd, vile, despicable acts of depravity that this man had somehow seduced her into... and suddenly, in near-panic, she realized that she must deceive them into believing that she was completely at their mercy, or else God alone knew what next would happen to her. She broke into loud sobs and covered her face, but through her fingers she saw the doctor offer a confident little smile to his wife.

"There, there now, it is not all that bad, ma chere," Leduc consoled her, gently removing her hands from her face. "Everything is going to be all right." He smiled his warm smile down at her and Janet let her tears slowly subside. "Now, after we've had our medication I am going to have you moved to a much nicer room and you will be given some gowns more befitting your station. Would you like that?"

"Y-Yes," Janet replied softly, resolved now that to play the meek innocent was her only hope.

Her mind raced while Leduc prepared her injection and handed her the small glass of sweet, amber-colored liquid to drink. She did not want to consume the concoction, but could think of no possible means of avoiding it without giving herself away. The needle, she felt she must have, or fall into those horrible withdrawal agonies once more. She was not that certain that she understood what they meant by post-hypnotic suggestion, and she couldn't afford to gamble on any more unnecessary pain. But, was she really addicted? And what had he meant when he referred to her as a commodity? What... what... what? Oh, dear God, what are they trying to do to me? Why? And where is my Paul... ?

"Now, cheri, I will take you to your new room," Madame Leduc said, interrupting Janet's thoughts as she took a white robe from the foot of the bed and held it up for her to slip into.

Slowly, Janet started to toss the covers back, then hesitated, remembering the short gown she wore was only hip-length, and the brown brute they had called Erabas was staring at her with wide, gleaming, hungry dark-eyes. Leduc read her hesitation and smiled.

"You mustn't worry about, or fear Erabas, ma cheri," he said. "He is quite harmless, and he will be looking after you."

Janet continued from the bed, quickly slipping into the robe.

Looking after me? For what? Guarding me is what he means... so that I won't try to escape. A sanitarium, he said. Good God, what kind of sanitarium would have such monsters about? Oh, Paul, Paul... please come and help me? Please... Please!

Before the Leducs left her, Janet had been moved to a luxurious room on an upper floor of the sanitarium, if indeed, she thought, it was such a place. She had been allowed to bathe and was given several exquisite, sheer negligees... certainly not the type of garment one would expect to find in a medical institution. The doctor had left her with a promise that he would be calling upon her at least daily, and perhaps more often. She was to do nothing but relax completely, get as much sleep as possible, and merely ring the little buzzer beside her bed if there was anything she wanted or needed.

Left alone, the first thing she did was to fall into a fit of despondent weeping. Although she had no conception of what fate actually lay in store for her, there was no doubt in her mind but what Leduc had some horribly evil plans. He had called her a commodity... and there could only be one thing about her that was salable... her body. She shuddered at the thought, even as the familiar irritable craving began to tingle in her belly and pelvic regions. Dear God... if only she knew how to reach Paul. She had to do something. She couldn't just lay there and wait for the worst to happen to her. She had to fight back some way... but how?

They had taken all of the necessary precautions: removed her clothing, kept her drugged and watched over by that brute Moroccan, Erabas... Erabas... ? She wondered. It was an obvious leer he had given her, a hungry and undeniable lustful expression. Perhaps... perhaps, she could bargain with him... if he would help her, she would let him... Oh God, she couldn't, she couldn't! But what, then? Where could she turn? There was no one! Her Paul was gone somewhere she didn't know...

Again, she wept, praying as the-tears streamed down her cheeks. Please, God... please help me... ? And then, she dried her eyes, set her jaw... and rang the buzzer.

Almost instantly, the giant Moroccan entered the room with the lightness of a cat. The mere sight of his massive presence caused Janet to cringe.

"Yes, Madame," he said in deep accented English. He stood at the foot of the bed and stared at her with those burning, ravenous eyes, his heavy muscular arms folded across his thick chest.

Janet forced herself to present a little smile. She hoped her lips weren't quivering the way her stomach was. She looked at him for a long moment, then said, "Are you my guard, Erabas?"

"I am Madame's servant," he replied curtly.

"Oh... I see," said Janet, softly. "Then... you are to do whatever I ask of you?"

"Yes, Madame... if possible."

"If possible?"

"Yes, Madame... all things are not possible."

Janet widened her eyes. "Such as... ?"

"I-I beg the Madame not to taunt me," Erabas said, his flashing eyes raking the length of her body that only a single silken sheet covered, clinging to its lush, full contours provocatively.

"I-I'm sorry, Erabas," Janet apologized. "I didn't mean to taunt you. It's just that... I need help... I do, Erabas," she said, suddenly sitting up in the bed, the sheet falling away to reveal her firm, pointed breasts behind the gossamery material of the negligee. She was not going to try any tricks. She was too frightened and desperate for that. The truth was the only way... "I need someone to help me get out of here. I'm being held against my will... actually kidnapped..."

"Madame is not feeling well again," the huge man replied, his tongue- tip slipping out to wet his lips. "I suggest you get some rest as the Doctor ordered..."

"But it's true, Erabas! You must believe me. They are kidnapping me!" Janet insisted frantically. "I don't know what they plan to do with me, but I'm sure it's something horrible..." she got to her knees and crawled to the foot of the bed to look up at him pleadingly. "Please, Erabas, you've got to help me. You're so big... and strong... I'll... I'll pay you well... anything you ask... anything... Please, please... ?

The Moroccan's licorice eyes were devouring every sensuous detail of Janet's luscious body, lucidly clear to him beneath the diaphanous, wispy gown, from her pink rising nipples down to the velvety fleece nestled mysteriously below her white creamy belly. He swallowed heavily as his hand slowly came away from his chest and reached out to touch her heavy protruding breast.

Janet gasped as the giant hand completely and gently cupped the melon-like globe of resilient flesh, dwarfing its size and causing an insane shiver of wild sensation to ripple down through her belly and loins.