The Naughty Box (9 books in 1 box set)

by Davis, SJ

  “No.”

  “Eat, then” she said, breaking off a piece of bread.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Come on, Selene. Please.”

  Lena shook her head. Crying softly, she curled on her side and closed her eyes, her shame and revulsion complete. Odin Andreassen, The God, had finally broken her spirit. Closing her eyes, she shut it out and slept.

  The days that followed were a blur. When Odin came for her she followed him out the door. Without instruction, she washed in the frigid lake, lay across the bed, and did as she was told. Back in the bunkhouse, she crawled beneath the blankets and waited to die. Through it all, she was aware of Aurora, her voice low and soothing, as she tried to make things better. It didn’t help. Desolate, Lena descended into darkness.

  ***

  “You’ve got to snap out of it,” Aurora said on the morning of the fifth day. “I don’t know what he’s doing to you in there, but you have to put it behind you. How can we hope to get away if you just give up?”

  Her words finally sparked a reaction from Lena. “Get away?” she whispered. “It’s impossible.”

  Aurora blinked, her blue eyes wide with astonishment. “You can talk.” She knelt beside Lena’s bed and took her hand. “Will you eat? I’ve saved you some cheese and bread.”

  Lena shook her head. “There’s no point.”

  “Of course there is,” Aurora said. “We’re still alive. We have to believe we’ll get out of here or we’re lost.”

  “No,” Lena said. “You don’t understand. It’s impossible.”

  “You can’t just give up!”

  “What else do you expect me to do? We’ll never get away. There are two of them now. Him and the girl.”

  “What are you talking about?” Aurora said.

  “He brought Maeve here. She’s joined him.”

  “Joined him?”

  “That’s why he wanted me. He takes me inside for her. I’m her playmate.”

  Aurora shook her head in stunned disbelief. “She knows he’s keeping us here and she’s done nothing about it?”

  “She knows about me,” Lena said. “I don’t think she knows about you yet.”

  “But why? Why would she go along with him? He’s crazy.”

  “So is she. They’re two peas in a pod.” Lena stood. She was weak and light-headed. Grasping the mattress, she steadied herself while her vision cleared. “She thinks it’s some kind of twisted game.”

  “What if you tell her it’s not a game? If she knows we’re his prisoners, will she bring help?”

  Lena shook her head. “He’ll kill you if I tell her.”

  “So that’s what’s going on.” Aurora closed her eyes and sank down on the bed. “It’s bad, but you can’t just give up.”

  “What else is there?” Lena took a sip of water and lay back as her eyes overflowed. “Even if we could get away from him, she’s there too. I already know whose side she’s on.” The water roiled in her empty stomach. She threw up on the floor.

  Aurora grabbed a t-shirt, ripped it into rags, and wiped it up. She threw the soiled rag into the toilet and turned back to Lena with a frown. “So now we have three problems.”

  “Huh?” Lena put a hand to her forehead. It wasn’t hot, but she still felt nauseated.

  Aurora nodded. “Him, her…and you.”

  “Me?” A tear rolled down Lena’s cheek. She sniffed and wiped it away. “I’m doing what you said to do. I’m cooperating with him the best I can.”

  “I didn’t mean you,” Aurora said gently. “I meant your condition.” She resumed her position on the edge of the bed and put her arm around Lena’s shoulders.

  “I don’t understand,” Lena said. “What could possibly be worse than this?”

  Aurora squeezed her shoulder and took a deep breath. “If I’m right, it’s something you’ve wanted for a long time. Under other circumstances, it’s something that would’ve made your life happy and complete. Unfortunately, it picked the most inopportune time and place to happen.”

  Lena shook her head. “I’m not up to riddles. Just spit it out.”

  Aurora smoothed her hair from her forehead and kissed her cheek. “It should be the happiest time in your life. Instead, it’s a death sentence. Congratulations, I guess. If I’m right, you finally got your wish. You’re pregnant.”

  Lena closed her eyes; her hands went to her belly as she turned to Aurora in stunned disbelief.

  “How far along are you?” Aurora said. “Do you have any idea?”

  “I already told you…I can’t get pregnant. It’s impossible.”

  “I hate to disagree. When did you get your last period?”

  Lena thought for a moment. “Early June. But that doesn’t mean anything. I already told you I’m inconsistent.”

  “Lie back for a minute. Let me get a look at you.”

  “No.” Lena wrapped her arms around her stomach and drew her knees to her chest.

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  “Of course I do…but what if you’re right?”

  Aurora shrugged. “It’s better to know, isn’t it? If we know, we can do something about it. Are your breasts swollen?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do they leak at all?”

  “No.”

  Aurora closed her eyes and counted off the weeks on her fingers. “That wouldn’t happen until the third trimester. If you had a period in June, the farthest along you could be is…four months. That’s too early for colostrum. Let me see.”

  Lena pulled her sweater up to reveal her chest. While the rest of her body was pale and wasted, her breasts were full and hard. Aurora touched them and she shirked away.

  “Tender?” Aurora said.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll bet they feel tingly sometimes, too.”

  Lena nodded.

  “Lie back.”

  “You’re not a doctor.”

  “No, but I’m the closest thing you have. Don’t forget, I have pretty extensive medical training…If you’re pregnant, I’ll know enough to tell you for sure.”

  Lena lay flat across the bed. Aurora’s fingers probed the skin below her navel. “I’ll need to check inside,” she said. “If your cervix is closed, it’s a done deal. If you can feel the baby move, you’re at least four months along. When was the last time you slept with your husband?”

  Lena closed her eyes and did the math. “July 6. Exactly three and a half months ago. What does it feel like when the baby moves, Aurora?”

  “I’ve never been pregnant, but I’ve been told it’s kind of a fluttering feeling. Like butterflies. Have you felt it?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lena said.

  Aurora reached for the Wet-naps and cleaned her hands thoroughly. “There’s only one way to be sure without a pregnancy test,” she said. “I need to do an internal. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt and it will only take a moment. Slide down to the edge of the bed. That’s it…”

  Lena felt Aurora’s fingers enter her. She held her breath.

  “There’s your cervix,” Aurora said. “And…it’s…closed.” Her fingers withdrew. Aurora wiped her hands again and resumed her seat on the bed.

  “Does closed mean--?”

  Aurora nodded. “Closed means pregnant.”

  Lena smiled ruefully. “You can’t know how long I’ve waited to hear those words. Somehow, it’s not the joyous occasion I envisioned.”

  “Is Alex the father?”

  “I guess it depends on how far along I am. You can’t tell from your examination?”

  Aurora shook her head. “Without an ultrasound, there’s no way of telling until you feel fetal movement. What’s your best guess?”

  Lena closed her eyes in concentration. “I don’t know,” she said. “I had sex with Alex on the sixth and started sleeping with Odin two weeks later. Now it’s late October. Either Alex or Odin could be the father, couldn’t they?” Her hands went to her belly. It was hard beneath her touch. Pregnant! “Wha
t will he do if he finds out?” she asked anxiously.

  “You’re not going to keep it!”

  “Of course I am.”

  Aurora shook her head. “You’d be crazy to try. I’ll help you abort it. We’ll figure something out.”

  “No, Aura. That’s out of the question. I’m going to keep my baby.” Lena clutched the blanket tightly around her. “What’s the worst that could happen, anyway? He wouldn’t hurt his own child.”

  Aurora studied the floorboards as though they interested her. Outside, the wind blew cold gusts through the cracks around the bunkhouse door. “He’ll do the same thing he did when he found out about Annie, I suppose,” she said, raising her head to meet Lena’s eyes. “He’ll kill you.”

  “No he won’t. I’m still useful to him.”

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, but there’s no doubt in my mind…if he finds out about the baby, your life is over.”

  “Then I can’t let him find out,” she said, clutching her belly. A baby. A miracle. “But how can I keep it from him? It’s going to become obvious pretty soon.”

  Aurora took her hands. Her tone turned brisk and practical. “If you’re determined to go through with this, you’ve got to get some weight on you.” She reached beneath her pillow and withdrew a hunk of bread and some cheese. “Eat everything you can get your hands on from here on out. Even if the thought of it makes you sick, eat it and try to keep it down. Not only does the baby need the nutrition, the added pounds might help disguise the bump in your belly. It will get easier to keep food down once the morning sickness stops,” she added.

  “When will that be?” Lena asked.

  “Within the next month, with luck. It usually only lasts for the first trimester.” Aurora held her palm up to ward off Lena’s questions.

  “Second, don’t make him angry. When he’s mad, he beats us and drugs us. No more drugs, Lena. You don’t want to give birth to a brain-dead addict.”

  Lena nodded.

  “Third - and this is crucial - you have to try not to cringe when he touches you. Breast enlargement and sensitivity is a telltale sign of pregnancy. We have to hope he won’t notice it. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed that it’s Alex’s.”

  “How long do you think I can fool him?”

  “Hopefully until we manage to get out of here,” Aurora said. “That’s the most important thing right now. We’ve got to evaluate every opportunity for escape, and that means taking a chance on less-than-even odds. If we wait much longer, you’ll be dead for sure.”

  “Escape?” Lena shook her head as despair returned, replacing her joy. “Escape’s impossible! He’s had you for a year and a half and you haven’t managed it yet. How can we even hope to escape without help?”

  “We have to try.” Aurora’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Have no doubts,” she said, “when he finds out you’re pregnant, he’ll kill you, Lena. And if you die, I’ll die too. I can’t be his Goddess on my own anymore. I need you.”

  Chapter 48.

  The God was living his dream: his Goddesses were secure and his trainee was ready and willing. Maeve was the first of them who had not fallen - and, he felt sure, would not fall - in love with him. She was aberrant, perverse. The change in his routine coupled with her utter lack of scruples delighted him.

  “How did you get involved with John?” he asked as he poured her a second glass of wine. It was early November. Outside the little cabin the wind howled through the leafless trees. Inside, it was warm and cozy. A fire crackled in the woodstove; the smell of roasting meat filled the air. Maeve sat across from him, the golden sickle pendant swinging in the V between her breasts and stars dancing in her ears.

  “It was a little over a year ago,” she said, downing half the glass. “Marianne has a cousin who’s a friend of mine. He was part of it and thought I might be interested in taking the place of a girl who was leaving. I was invited to audition and passed the test.” She held the glass up to the light, swirled the Cabernet, and took another sip.

  “Is that how it works?” he asked. “People come and go? The group evolves?”

  She shrugged and held out her glass. The God refilled it. “Shit happens. People move on.”

  “And the others? How did they get involved?”

  “The same way you and I did. One of us brought them in, they auditioned, and they were approved. You got lucky…Butch cancelled out two weeks before our last get-together and we were one man short. If you call Morgan and Jordan men, that is. When are you going to fetch Rhiannon?”

  “Soon,” he said, checking the roast and stirring the gravy. “You’re young to be involved in a sex club, aren’t you?”

  She smiled. “I was an early bloomer.”

  “Were you abused when you were young?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Were you?”

  The God shook his head. “I didn’t join a group of perverts at the age of nineteen, though, either.”

  Maeve giggled. “Perverts…I guess we are, aren’t we?” She shook her head. “But to answer your question, no, I wasn’t abused. I had a relationship with an older couple when I was thirteen, but I prefer to think of it as mutual. I was, what you’d call, a ‘well-loved’ child.”

  “Society would call it something different,” he said.

  “Fuck society. I learned what I could from them then I moved on.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Paying society’s dues.”

  The God turned to her with raised brows. “You threw them to the wolves?”

  She smiled her affirmation and tapped her foot impatiently. “You’ll bring Rhiannon now?”

  “In a minute. I’ve got a few more questions.”

  Maeve pouted. She brightened considerably when he excused himself and returned with two bottles of pills.

  “What are they?” she asked, eyeing them eagerly.

  “This one’s speed, the other’s codeine.”

  Maeve frowned and picked up the bottle of Desoxyn. “Don’t you have any coke?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll give you money for it if that’s what you want.”

  Maeve nodded and opened the bottle. She popped one pill and waited, settling on his lap with her legs parted.

  The God watched as her eyes dilated. His hands moved to her hips, feeling for the band of her panties beneath her white toga. She wasn’t wearing any.

  “Aren’t you afraid of STDs? Or AIDS?” he asked.

  Maeve shrugged. “Not really. We require condoms for anal and vaginal intercourse. On top of that, I make it a practice to get tested regularly. I’m a firm believer in safe sex.”

  The God nodded and made a mental note to stop by the clinic the next time he was in town. “So the next party’s in two weeks,” he said. “Will I be invited?”

  She swung her leg across him and reached for his groin. “If I tell you, will you bring in Rhiannon?”

  The God sighed and shrugged her off his lap. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were only here for her,” he said petulantly.

  “You know that’s not true Dylan,” she replied. “And yes, you’re invited. They told me to ask you. You don’t have an email address or you’d have been notified. Now go get Rhiannon. I’ve got big plans for tonight.”

  The God ran his hand through her hair and smiled. He was invited. She was forgiven. He left the warmth of the little cabin and hurried across the yard to the bunkhouse. Pulling the door open, he squinted into the dark.

  “Wake up, Selene,” he said, shaking her shoulder and unlocking her chains.

  His Moon Goddess opened her eyes, squinting in the light from the lantern. Placing her feet on the floor, she stood shakily.

  He pulled her after him, urging her to move faster. Maeve had said she had big plans for the evening. Big plans…she had yet to disappoint him.

  Chapter 49.

  “You’ve got a call from the lab in Bangor, Chief.”

  “Thanks, Blake, I’ll take it in here.” Stan Spauldin
g waved the officer away and shut the door of his office. “Detective Spaulding,” he said, picking up the receiver.

  “Good afternoon, Detective Spaulding, this is Dr. Oliver Johnson with the forensics division of the Bangor Police Department. I’m the lead scientist assigned to the forensic paternity test of the case you’re working on: Jacob Morris vs. the State of Maine.”

  “Yes?” Stan Spaulding gripped the phone tightly. He’d been waiting for the results for weeks.

  “We’ve finished our testing and confirmed the results with the FBI lab in Quantico.”

  “And?” Stan was eager for the answer. The State Prosecutor had been methodically building a case against Jake Morris; the question of his paternity was an issue that was holding things up. He waited impatiently for the reply.

  Dr. Johnson cleared his throat. “And, we’ve sent the results out to all parties involved. You should receive them in the mail in a day or two.”

  “Can you tell me what to expect?”

  “Between you and me?”

  “Of course, doctor.”

  “Our results show that the DNA of the fetus is not a match to that of the suspect in custody, Jacob Morris.”

  “Not a match?” Stan repeated with surprise. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, sir, we’re positive. We performed extended testing and statistical analysis in addition to the 13 core CODIS loci. Our results mirrored those of the technicians in Quantico. There is no way that your suspect, Jacob Morris, could have fathered Diana Janson’s unborn baby girl.”

  “Have you spoken with the State Prosecutor yet?” Stan asked.

  “Yes, sir. I spoke with him this morning, as well as with the lawyer for the defendant. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hope this doesn’t screw you guys up.”

  Stan recovered quickly. “No, not at all. Thanks for letting me know.”

  He hung up the phone and drummed his fingers against his desk. He’d been so sure that the baby was Jake’s he’d have bet his mother’s house on it. A flicker of doubt entered his mind as he took out the file on Jake Morris and perused it for the hundredth time. When he was done, he closed the folder and leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. He opened them a minute later. With a frown, he picked up the telephone and dialed a number.