style="font-size:15px;"> I shook my head at the man as Celeste returned with my drink. “No thanks, I think this has got me covered.” I knew when to tell a guy to fuck off, but I was here to pick up Samantha, not offend one of the paying customers.
Celeste took in the situation. “Dave, are you bothering my girl here?” She also knew she had to be careful. She was the bar manager and was used to defusing tense situations, but she also had to keep in mind that this man was a club member. Still, Celeste set the tone for what was allowed at her bar and the truth was that not much got past her.
“Not bothering,” he said with a half smile and hands up in the air. “Just…making an offer.”
“Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but she’s not up for grabs.” She twisted her face into a sweet, seductive smile as she leaned over the bar and close to his ear. “I’ll tell you who is though—look over there, in the corner. That’s Dana. She’s new, but she’s really good and I think the two of you could have a really good time together. Why don’t you go say hello to her?”
It was enough to drag Dave’s attention away from me and shortly afterwards he was flirting with the collared girl, who led him away to one of the alcoves with a giggle.
“Thanks for that,” I said as I sipped my cocktail. It was a combination of so many flavors—cranberry, vanilla, peach and…something I couldn’t pick up.
“That’s jasmine. You’re tasting jasmine,” Celeste said with a smile. “House made jasmine infused vodka. Just a little something I came up with.”
“It’s incredible.” It really was. I took another sip and felt the alcohol hit my knees, relaxing me somewhat.
“By the way, I know you can take care of yourself here. I’ve seen you do it a number of times. I just wanted to spare you any of the fallout from that one. It’s his first time here, but he’s a longtime member. Spends most of his time at the Seattle location. Major tech investor and has a Twitter account you don’t want to end up on.” She grimaced.
“Yikes, well thanks, Celeste.”
“No problem.” She looked at her watch. “I don’t know how long Samantha is going to be. It was a party of eight and she was mixing drinks for them in one of the private rooms. Basically, she has to stay until they are done and…well, there are eight of them in there.”
I laughed. “I understand. It could be a while. That’s okay, I’ll just sit here working on my drink.”
“How is your work? Still working for your dad?” She asked as she began wiping down one section of the bar.
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s mostly me and him these days. We’ve still got Rodrigo and one other guy working for us, but people seem to wait a little longer between tune ups. Money is tight for a lot of folks.”
Celeste snorted. “You don’t have to tell me. Supporting a family feels next to impossible sometimes. Take my advice and stay single and childless for as long as you can. Of course, you’d never know that anyone was struggling by the way things look around here.”
She was right. Along with the dim lighting and thumping music, everything was covered in exquisite fabrics and it all seemed like something out of a French film depicting a time before they had lopped off the heads of all their aristocrats. Everything in Club V was decadent. Members could come in here and forget everything that was going on outside of the club. Worries were left behind and people indulged in their deepest, darkest fantasies.
“I don’t know how you do it. Work in this environment every single day. Doesn’t it get to you?”
“You mean, does it make me horny?” She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, but I think it’s probably been a really good thing for my relationship. You know I met my wife here?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know you were married.”
Celeste nodded and looked down at her bare ring finger. “I don’t wear it to work. Tends to disappoint the club members if they think their chances of getting into my pants are nil. Number one, I’m not into guys. Two…well, the ladies don’t know it, but my wife and I are pretty open. I did meet her here after all.”
Now I was intrigued. I wondered if Samantha knew about Celeste and her wife meeting here. Maybe she had just been discreet enough not to share this with me.
I smiled, “Okay, Celeste. I’ve got to know how you met your wife. I love stories like this.”
“It’s not as cute as you think! But it is pretty hot.” Celeste leaned in across the bar. “She started out working here at the bar and back then she was my employee. There was some chemistry, but she was so much younger than me—I know I might not look it, but I am every bit of 43 years old—I never thought there was a chance for anything to happen between us. And like I said, she was working for me. We’ve got some rules about that here. There aren’t many rules at Club V, but that is one of them. No messing around with the staff, especially not someone directly underneath you.” She rolled her eyes. “So anyway, she decided she wanted to move on up here. There was an opening on the floor and she decided to jump at it. Well, a few weeks later, after she had gone through training, she marches out onto the floor, all 5 feet and 11 inches of her—she’s a goddess, by the way—wearing nothing but that fucking collar.”
I drew in a breath. Depending on the color of the collar, it signaled what the girl was willing to do.
“I knew I was going to witness her doing some things on the floor. You know most of the hardcore stuff does get taken to an alcove or a private room somewhere, but on occasion, people get carried away. I mean…you know. It’s happening right now as we speak.”
Celeste wasn’t kidding. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the guy who had been face deep in the girl’s crotch earlier was now plowing her like a ripe melon and she was loving it from the sounds of things.
“I knew I was going to see her do things, but remember at that point I really thought it was no more than a crush and for all, I knew it was only on my side. I had no idea if she shared any of these feelings. But that first time seeing her naked. My god, I thought I was going to lose it. She was so breathtakingly beautiful and I knew that some guy was about to gobble her up. She winked at me as she passed the bar that night on her way back to a private room and…I’m not religious, but I said a prayer for her. They vet people pretty seriously here, but once in a while, we get a crazy one or someone who has violent proclivities. I tried to push it out of my mind as I worked for the rest of the night.”
She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “I didn’t know what room she was in and we were shorthanded that night. I was just going to serve some drinks in one of the rooms. They had requested that someone be there on hand to serve and that is not my job, but they were some high roller types. I knew who they were because I had served them before. A couple who like to maintain their privacy. They’re pretty big time here in the city and I understood why they came in through the private entrance and only ever had a private room—what I’m saying is that they’re both in politics.” Celeste sort of waved her hand nonchalantly in the air. “I knew it was a fucking big deal and the fact that Amber had been chosen by this couple was a major break for her. They tended to come back and have the same girls over and over again. And with the kind of money, they were spending to have one girl all to themselves…well, it wasn’t anything I would want to get in the middle of. People don’t realize how much money the girls who work the floor can make. With a couple like this…they’ll
