Club Wicked 2: My Wicked Nanny (2 page)

Mr. Florentine took a step forward and held out his hand.
“Here, let me.”

She firmly placed her hand over her bag. “I’ve got it, sir.
Please don’t trouble yourself.”

Now a small smile did turn the corners of his mouth. “Ms.
Kozlov, I assure you it is not a problem. I’m an old-fashioned man, and I
believe good manners dictate that a lovely young woman shouldn’t have to carry
her bag if there is an able-bodied gentleman nearby. I may be old, but I’m sure
I can handle the weight of your bag.”

Her cheeks heated, and she handed her bag to him. “Thank
you, sir.” There. She’d managed to remember one of the most important rules of
decorum for working at Wicked: always address someone as Sir or Ma’am unless
told differently.

“You are most welcome. Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you
to Sunny, who will be the bartender that you’ll be working with. She’s a very
sweet girl. I think you’ll like her.”

They walked through the lot, his presence making her feel
safe even though he was a stranger. Something about the way he moved next to
her was almost protective. Due to their height difference, she found herself
taking two steps to his one. She cleared her throat and looked over at him.

“Have you worked here long, Mr. Florentine?”

He chuckled. “Yes, I’ve been with Wicked for a very long
time.”

When he didn’t say anything more, she bit the inside of her
cheek. What was she supposed to say now? She shoved her hands into her pockets,
trying to keep from indulging in her nervous habit of twirling her hair. “It’s
a beautiful building.”

He smiled. “What do you like the most about it?”

“Everything.” He arched a brow, and she grinned up at him.
The lights at the back of the building illuminated his creased face. “It
reminds me of what I pictured Toad Hall looking like.”

Mr. Florentine chuckled, a rich sound that echoed through
the rows of cars. “From
The Wind in the
Willows
?”

Unsure if he was laughing at her, she nodded and looked
away. “Yes, sir.”

“I do hope I’m not Mr. Toad.”

“Oh, oh no, sir, not at all.”

“I was only teasing you, Ms. Kozlov. What is one of your
favorite parts of the book?” He must have seen her confusion. “I read that
story to my children around a thousand times while they were growing up, and my
grandchildren ten thousand.”

Hearing this sophisticated, urbane man talk about reading books
to his children helped lessen her anxiety. “Hmm.” She took a deep breath and
tasted the promise of new growth and fertile earth in the air, a hint of the
world waking from winter. “‘Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth
below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its
spirit of divine discontent and longing.’”

“Lovely and very appropriate. I do believe there is more to
you than what meets the eye, Ms. Kozlov.”

“Oh no, I’m just a—”

“Brave young woman about to embark upon an adventure of her
own.”

“But—”

“Do not argue with me, girl.” She jumped at the snap in his
tone, the kindly old man gone and in his place a man who radiated control and
power like a king.

“I’m sorry, sir.” She ducked her head, cursing herself for
arguing with not only an employee of Wicked but also a friend of Laurel’s.
Heck, he could even be some big-shot politician for all she knew. DC was rife
with them. “I don’t take compliments well. I… Well, my mother said vanity was
one of the ultimate downfalls of women since Eve took a bite of an apple long
ago.”

He paused and turned to her, his profile half illuminated by
the lights on the back of the building. “Ms. Kozlov, I suggest you find a
polite way to respond to compliments rather soon. You, my dear, are going to
catch quite a few eyes, and when a Master or Mistress compliments you, they are
apt to take you over their knee for a spanking if you try to deny it.”

“Seriously?” Her voice came out in an undignified squeak,
real fear worming its way into her bones. “They can just grab me if they wish?”

“Of course not.” He shifted her bag to his other arm.
“Nothing and no one touches you without your permission. If they try, find
someone with a pin like this in gold, or let one of the other servers know and
they’ll find a DM for you.” He lifted his tie tack, and upon closer inspection,
she saw it was a stylized
W
in the
middle of a rather roman-looking sunburst.

“DM?” She remembered that phrase from her training and
smiled. “Oh, you mean the dungeon monitors?”

“Correct. They are like the police of the club. They keep
the submissives safe from the Doms and the Doms safe from the submissives.” He
winked, then began walking again. “Despite what you may think, I can assure you
that submissives can indeed be just as dangerous as the Dominants but in a
different way.”

“Huh.”

They reached the back of the building, and Mr. Florentine
paused before reaching for the door. “Ms. Kozlov, this job is whatever you make
of it. If you wish to simply work as a server, no one will think any less of
you. However, if you wish to explore the delights Wicked has to offer… Well,
let’s say if I’d found a place like this when I was your age, I would have
taken advantage of every opportunity offered to me. They would have had to drag
me away from the club, unconscious, after a hell of a fight.”

She giggled, taken in by his charm. “I’ll keep that in mind,
Mr. Florentine.”

He smiled and knocked on the door. A moment later a huge man
with flaming red hair and wearing a dark suit opened it, then bowed to Mr.
Florentine. “Welcome back, Mr. Florentine.”

“Thank you, Barry. Ms. Kozlov is charming, and it was nice
to stretch my legs.”

The big man let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her.
“Welcome, Ms. Kozlov. I’ll take you to your trainer, Sunny.”

Mr. Florentine handed her bag to her. “I do hope you enjoy
your time at Wicked, Ms. Kozlov. Laurel highly recommended you, and I have to
say that as always, she has the most excellent taste.”

Looking down, she wished just once she wouldn’t blush every
time someone complimented her. “Thank you again, sir.”

Barry chuckled. “Look at that blush. The Doms are going to
love her.”

Mr. Florentine laughed as well and headed down the hall to
their left. Anya watched his retreating figure and wished he’d stayed with her
a little bit longer. So far he was the only person she knew here.

“Ms. Kozlov, if you would please follow me.”

Barry led her through a series of utilitarian hallways that
clearly indicated this was the working area of the mansion. While still
stylish, it certainly had none of the splendor the outside of the club
suggested. Not that she’d been expecting crystal chandeliers hanging from the
ceiling in the kitchen, but she was eager to see the grandeur Laurel had
described.

Barry smiled down at her. “Nervous?”

“Yes, Sir.” She took a deep breath and shifted her bag.

“I’ll let you in on a secret. On my first day here I was so
tense I hardly spoke two words to anyone. Some of the members thought I was
mute and used sign language to try to talk with me.”

That startled a laugh out of her, and the band of tension in
her limbs eased slightly. “I’m afraid that will happen to me once I start
work.”

Barry stopped and knocked on a door with the word Ladies
Only above it. “You’ll be fine. Sunny is a very sweet girl. Just listen to what
she says and try to remember to speak.”

A moment later the door opened, and a tall young woman with
a dark pixie cut smiled at Anya with genuine warmth. Something about her cupid-bow
lips and big brown eyes reminded Anya of silent movie stars from the 1920s. The
girl on the other side of the door wore a pair of thigh-high red latex boots
that complemented her long legs. Tiny shorts of the same material hugged her
slim hips, and a matching red bra completed the outfit. While Anya had seen
plenty of naked women when she worked sewing costumes at plays, she’d never
seen a woman in such a provocative outfit.

“Hi! My name is Sunny, and I’m your trainer.” She grabbed
Anya in a quick hug and kissed both her cheeks before releasing her. “I’m so
excited to see you.”

Anya smiled back and tried to keep her gaze on Sunny’s face.
“Thank you. I’m very glad to be here.”

Barry bowed to them both. “If you ladies will excuse me, I
have a cranky chef I need to go deal with.”

Sunny laughed. “Oh, dear. Did someone dare to suggest he
make a cheeseburger for them?”

“Worse. They asked if we had any ketchup.”

He waved, and Sunny took Anya’s hand and tugged her through
the doorway. “So, are you freaking out yet?”

Anya laughed and looked around a small lounge area with a
cream sofa and chairs scattered around a glass table. Antique-looking brass
lanterns gave the room a warm and comfortable feel with their dim lighting. “A
little bit.”

Sunny took a seat on one of the chairs, then crossed her
long legs. “Sit down. I wanted to give you a chance to ask any questions before
we enter the madness that is the women’s locker room behind me. And don’t worry
about offending me or anything. It’s better to ask a foolish question now than
to do something stupid out of ignorance later. I’m sure they went over all of
the server stuff during your training, but I bet you still have a lot of
questions.”

The other woman’s energy was contagious, and Anya found some
of her earlier excitement returning. “I guess my first question would be my
costume. I brought something, but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to
wear.”

“You mean you aren’t sure if you look slutty enough like
moi
?” Sunny giggled. “Don’t worry. You
can wear pretty much anything as long as it’s flattering. We have one server
who only wears evening gowns, another who favors skanky cheerleader outfits,
and yet another who wears elaborate ball gowns. Then we have our Mistress bartenders
and servers that always dress to the nines. And I can’t forget Sister
Immaculate, who usually wears some type of nun getup.”

“A nun? For real?”

“Oh yeah. Lots of guys find it hot. You know, corrupting an
innocent and all that.” Sunny tapped her foot against the edge of the table.
“Why don’t you show me what you have and we’ll go from there. If you need
anything extra, there are some girls that are your height and size you can
borrow from.”

The word “size” made her all the more self-conscious about
being a size 14 instead of what had to be a size 4 like Sunny. “Okay.”

Anya picked her bag up off the floor and set it on the
table. The first item she took out was a long, flowing robe of diaphanous gray
material that had a pearl-like shimmer. She’d seen a similar one Laurel had
made for a friend in gold, but the silver flattered her pale skin and hair
better than the warm color.

“Ohhhh, pretty,” Sunny said as she leaned forward and
fingered the material. “Soft too. Kinda like silk.”

Emboldened, Anya took out a baby-doll top made of the same
material but with sparkly silver beading along the bodice to hide her nipples.
The top was long enough to reach her upper thighs, so she hadn’t brought an
additional skirt. At the time she’d thought her outfit was extremely risqué,
but now, looking at Sunny in her barely there clothes, she worried maybe she
would be too covered.

“What do you think?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, please.”

“Just like any other place in the world, the more skin you
show, the better the tips. I’d leave that lovely robe off and wear the
negligee.”

Discomfort twisted her stomach, mixing with her unease in a
sour ball. “But they’ll be able to see my underwear.”

“Honey, that’s nothing. Even though you’ll be in the public
portion of the bar tonight, there will be half-naked and sometimes fully naked
people everywhere.”

“Seriously?”

Sunny giggled. “Yes, seriously. You’ll be helping me at the
bar. Did you bring any shoes?”

Anya fished out a pair of high heels she’d only worn once.
“I have these and a pair of ballet flats.”

“Are you used to walking in heels? You’re going to be on
your feet for a good six hours tonight, taking drinks from the bar to the
members in the lounge area. I don’t want you to cripple yourself on your first
night. I mean, if you have experience walking around in high heels for your day
job, you might be okay. Otherwise I’d stick to the ballet flats.”

She sighed. “No. My daytime job is as a nanny. High heels
and spirited children don’t mix.”

“You know, I can totally picture it. You have this very
calm, peaceful aura about you. Bet you’re great with kids.” Sunny pursed her
lips. “The ballet flats will work, and I think Vivienne has some slave bells we
can put around your ankles. Then we’ll probably need a mask for you as well.”

“Why?”

“Almost all of the servers and bartenders wear masks, as
well as a bunch of the members. It helps protect our identity and gives the
members a sense of privacy. If they saw you out and about in the real world,
they would never know who you are, so there wouldn’t be any weirdness. Not that
it really matters anyways. Those privacy contracts we all have to sign pretty
much ensure no one ever talks about Wicked.”

“That makes sense. Should I pick a fake name as well? I
mean, Anya isn’t very common.”

“Yes. Do you have anything in mind?”

“No, not really. I never thought about it until now.”

Sunny leaned back and tilted her head, examining Anya with a
shrewd eye. “How about Dove?”

“Dove?”

“Yeah. You’re soft and sweet like a dove, and your eyes are
a blue-gray. That pale blonde hair of yours adds to your innocent look. Plus,
and most importantly, we don’t have anyone who goes by that name yet.”

“Dove. I like it.”

“Excellent. Just remember to introduce yourself by that
name. I’m assuming you’re more submissive than Dominant?”