by Allison West
Philip and Theo stood, heading out one at a time into the hall. Theo tried to walk at the same pace Philip was using but he felt giddy, with a bounce in his step, and wanted to race to the window as if it were a finish line. His dream for happiness was just on the other side of that door. Through the glass, he glanced each girl over, studying what they wore, their demeanor, how they played.
"Teresa and Mollie are the two girls having a tea party with their dolls," Philip said. "Teresa has the darker, black hair. They are both good young ladies who are, I am certain, eager to please a papa of their own. Can you tell me, is there a specific type of feature that you like? Do you find yourself attracted to either of them?"
Theo stared at Teresa. He liked the richness of her hair and her eyes, and even from afar she stood out, but she was small, both in height and stature. He desired a young woman who at first glance made his pulse race. Teresa was pretty but did not stir up the smoldering fire inside him.
He moved his attention to Mollie, with her brown hair braided neatly around the top of her head. She was no doubt beautiful, just as Teresa was, but there was something lacking upon seeing her. The spark had not been lit inside his heart. Perhaps the connection he expected would not come from a mere glance. "May I speak with them?" Theo asked.
"That is not how we usually do things, Theo. If you do not feel an immediate bond to either girl, you may return in the spring. Our enrollment oftentimes increases then, and I would be pleased to introduce you again at that time to our new littles."
Theo's gaze moved from the young ladies dressed as little girls toward the corner of the room by the door, where one of the nannies sat. Her dark brown curls had escaped from their pins, leaving her hair looking messy, but pretty. The smile on her face and the nervous laugh she shared with another nanny made her appear even more beautiful. Perhaps it was the fact that she seemed to be without a care, even with the responsibilities of the job at hand. He had never found himself aroused by a woman who worked, and her position as nanny for the school did nothing to make him hot, yet he found himself gazing at her, taking in the feminine features of her face, the perfectly shaped jawline and chin, her dimples when she laughed, the sparkle in her brown eyes. She was the flame that sparked to life, and the longer he stared, the more his heart pounded. Just one long glance, and he would have fantasies for hours. What made her more beautiful than the other girls, Theo did not know, but the attraction he felt pulled at him, and it was unmistakable. "What about her?"
"Who? The nanny?" Philip asked and laughed softly.
Had that question never been posed before? Theo awaited an answer, staring blankly at Mr. Hartley for a proper response.
"Miss Giana is under my care as a nanny. She has no betrothed as far as I am aware, but she comes at a much higher price. The resulting loss of her being a nanny to my girls would result in my needing to hire again. She is new to Ashby, but has already proven herself valuable."
"Whatever it is, I shall pay it," Theo said.
"She does not come with a dowry."
"That does not matter to me, as I am sure you are aware, based on my finances."
Philip rubbed his forehead. "This is not exactly orthodox, Mr. Elliott."
"Theo."
"Right," Philip said and sighed. "I will have to speak with Miss Giana about it before making any further agreements or discussions. She has not signed herself in as a little, and I cannot in good faith and conscience sell her right to marriage without at the very least speaking to her." Philip paused and studied Giana for a moment. "But there is something about her that would make the perfect little. I got that feeling the minute I first met her. There may be a hidden submissive quality in her just waiting to be explored."
"Very well. I shall leave and return when you have had a chance to discuss this with her." He relaxed, willing to allow as much time as would be required to satiate his desires. "If she were to agree, we should discuss numbers," Theo said. "I am sure that I can satisfy the requirement of you needing to hire another nanny."
Philip nodded. "I shall send word shortly, when I have her answer."
Chapter 6
Giana had felt the headmaster's stare through the window of the playroom. Accompanying him had been another gentleman, well dressed with thick brown hair, his hat in hand. The man's sharp jaw complemented his striking, steely gaze. Why had he been watching her? Perhaps it had been entirely her imagination. He was quite attractive, and spending time around the littles—preparing them for their papas—had made her anxious for a man of her own. Would anyone ever desire her as the littles were desired by their papas? Now that she had become a nanny, was her fate to live and die a spinster?
As quickly as she had spotted the man staring at her, he had retreated, and Giana's attention returned to Teresa, who had been playing surprisingly well with Mollie. The girls shared tea with their dolls, quietly interacting without too much trouble.
Giana had been at the chateau as a nanny for a week, and it had taken quite a bit of time to understand the routine, as well as come to terms with the very different, and oftentimes bizarre way of life at Ashby. The worst had been earlier that morning; apparently Giana had missed the temper tantrum that had beset Teresa and forced the headmaster to mete out the punishment of an enema to the little one—or rather, instruct Giana to administer the discipline that he thought appropriate. So now, she knew it was time to give an enema, and the thought practically paralyzed her. But she needed to do as requested, and to appear firm. Taking a deep breath, she stood and walked over to Teresa. No time like the present. Silently, she took Teresa by the hand and led her to the nursery, feeling her pulse speed up with every step.
"It is time for your enema," she said to Teresa when they entered the nursery. Headmaster Philip had given her a strict instruction of how to perform the enema in far more detail than she had ever thought possible.
A maid brought all the required implements and left them on a small table beside the tub.
"No!" Teresa's eyes widened and she took a step back. Tears flooded her eyes and poured down her cheeks. The worst had yet to occur.
"You do not want to run, Teresa. Do you know what Headmaster Philip will do if you do not accept your punishment with poise? Come with me, or I shall be forced to take you over my knee," Giana threatened. The girl had been good, albeit mouthy, but not nearly as troublesome as the first night on which she had met her charge. They had come to an understanding of sorts. Teresa would follow the rules, and Giana would not be forced to blister her bottom. She had been lucky, thus far not having to inflict too many punishments. Perhaps the girl had a good week and it seemed to be ending. It was clear that little Teresa did not want an enema.
"No!" Teresa shouted yet again. She rushed past Giana, knocking forcefully into her shoulder.
If Teresa had not been so small and short, she could have knocked Giana off her path. Instead, Giana grabbed Teresa by the waist, her long arm wrapped around Teresa's stomach as she dragged her little charge toward the bathtub. She did not want to do this any more than little Teresa wanted to accept the punishment.
"You will remove your clothes and bend forward, holding onto the tub." Giana pulled the girl's bloomers down past her bottom and used her hand to slap the young woman's cheeks. The pale skin blushed pink on impact. "I will not tolerate such behavior! Nor will a papa." Another swat landed on Teresa's wiggling bottom.
"Ow!" Teresa whined, trying to pull away but unable to escape the torment of her punishment as Giana continued to spank her.
"Headmaster Philip and I are not pleased with your behavior today!" Giana had heard of worse punishments that he dished out to unruly girls. Teresa should have considered herself lucky that all she was getting was an enema.
Her hand spanked Teresa again on her blushing posterior, just above the juncture of her legs, where she sat.
Sniffling and whining, Teresa struggled to get away.
Giana kept one hand firmly over the girl's waist while the othe
r kept peppering her bottom with the punishment she deserved. Giana did not know what Teresa had done to offend Headmaster Philip, but it must have been earned.
Swat.
Her hand did not slow with its movements of making little Teresa's bottom red and flushed over every speck of flesh. Giana did not desire to punish the girl, but she had no choice given her behavior. "Perhaps, if this keeps up, we shall increase the size of your bottom plug."
Teresa's eyes widened. "No! Please, no. I am sorry. I will not curse in the headmaster's presence again! It was an accident. I do not know what came over me."
"Will you accept the punishment that Headmaster Philip has instructed you receive?" Giana did not want to loosen her grip until the girl had agreed to take her enema with no further fight.
"Yes, Nanny Giana. I will be a good girl. I am sorry."
Sighing, she released her hold and was relieved to see that Teresa had not run. Her face was red and blotchy, similar to the color of her bottom where she had been disciplined. "I suggest you remove all your clothes. You do not want to dirty your pretty dress." Giana let the girl undress while she prepared the bag and the tube, checking the nozzle and then adding only a tiny bit of lubricant. Had Teresa been easier to get in for her enema, she would have greased up the entire metal nozzle.
"I am ready," Teresa said, standing naked and shivering.
The room was not cold in the slightest. Perhaps it was the young woman's nerves that had got to her. "Bend forward, and rest your hands on the edge of the tub. Spread your legs and push your bottom out toward me."
The young woman sighed and relented, doing as she was told.
Using one hand, Giana spread the girl's bottom cheeks and heard her sharp intake of breath. Had it been her nerves, or the feeling of Giana's fingers on the sting of her behind that caused the noise? With her other hand, Giana reached for the nozzle, pressing it to the opening of her pink rosebud, but did not push in just yet.
"I hope from now on you will behave and have learned your lesson."
"Yes, Nanny Giana." Teresa was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and the procedure had not even begun.
Pushing the nozzle fully inside, Giana felt Teresa squirm at the intrusion. "Stay still, child. You will take a bigger plug tonight." She would see to it that she could handle such an instrument without objection. Besides, Teresa's training needed to continue, which meant increasing the size of her plug. It had been a week; she was ready for the next level that would come to satisfy whomever her papa would be.
With the nozzle tightly wedged past Teresa's pink pucker, Giana turned the switch to drain the bag into the tube.
Teresa groaned at the sound of the liquid sliding down, and as it entered her bottom, she jumped. Was it cold? Did it burn? Giana had never experienced an enema. She did not know what to think, but watching the young girl squirm and resist, as sweat began to further bead on her forehead, Giana couldn't help but rub the girl's lower belly to help ease the discomfort.
"You are doing well. I am quite proud of you," she said, encouraging Teresa to accept the rest of the liquid in the bag. Either way, she had no choice. The instructions had been to give her the entire contents of the bag.
After the bag had emptied, Teresa groaned as the nozzle was removed and she was forced to stand. The young charge crossed her legs, looking rather uncomfortable. "May I use the chamber pot?"
"Not for fifteen minutes." Nanny Giana had her instructions. She took the hand of the young woman and led her to the mattress. "Lie on your back."
Teresa practically fell upon the mattress, keeping her legs clamped shut.
Nanny Giana massaged Teresa's belly, which only forced the girl to groan.
"Please, do not!" Little Teresa clenched her teeth and balled her fists at her sides as she breathed loudly.
"I must," Nanny Giana said. Her hands moved over the girl's abdomen for a full fifteen minutes as Teresa squirmed beneath her ministrations.
"You may now get up and use the chamber pot."
Teresa whimpered. Did she worry she could not get up and make it there as expected?
"Come now," Giana said, taking her charge's hand and leading her back beside the tub, to where the pot sat, to relieve herself. She turned her back, giving the girl the first hint of privacy she had had since they met.
Just as Teresa began to empty herself, the door to the nursery opened, with Headmaster Philip and Nanny Beth entering. Had they come to check up on how little Teresa had handled her punishment? Perhaps they feared that Giana could not administer the enema properly.
"I would like to speak with you alone, Giana," Mr. Hartley said. "Nanny Beth will assist Teresa from here."
Nodding, Giana followed Headmaster Philip out of the room, shutting the door behind her. It seemed odd, being called to see him on her own. Had she done something to offend him? She had not had much interaction with him over the course of the past week. Most of her exchanges had been with her charge, Teresa. She felt certain that she had done her duties as a nanny as best she could, as difficult as some of those duties had been. "What may I help you with, Headmaster Philip?" she asked.
"Let us go somewhere a little more private." He walked past his office, which she thought peculiar, then led her down the hall and to the right, where another hallway led toward another set of locked double doors. Using his key, he unlocked them and led her inside, closing them behind him snugly. "This is our finishing school, where our ladies, who are prim and proper, are being educated. Ashby is known for its reputation. I have an office here, as well," he said, opening a door on the left side of the hall.
Giana followed and took a seat as soon as he went inside. "Why are we not in your office, Mr. Hartley? Have I done something to upset little Teresa?"
"No." He shook his head and sat perched on the edge of his oak desk. "I assure you, Giana, that you have been a fine nanny. It is simply that someone, a gentleman, has inquired of your status."
"My status?" she repeated, not sure what he was asking.
"He is inquiring about marriage, and is looking for a little one."
"I am neither betrothed, nor little. Perhaps Teresa or Mollie might be more to his liking?"
Philip clasped his hands together, his shoulders relaxed as he leaned forward. "He has already laid eyes upon the other girls, and it was then that he asked about you."
"Oh, I see." Giana had not expected such news; that a gentleman would be interested in her for marriage. "And this gentleman wants a little?"
"Yes. He would like you to be his little. Trained to become his submissive little wife."
"I do not know," she confessed. "I have never thought of myself as a little. I have also given up the thought of becoming a wife since… well, since becoming a nanny."
"Yes, I realize that, and it does take a certain kind of woman to fulfill that type of desire in a man and find pleasure in doing so, in turn finding her own happiness." He pushed himself off the desk. "I would like you to think about what I am suggesting. I believe that it is in you to be such a woman."
Giana looked up into Philip's eyes. "You do?"
He nodded. "I do. But only you can answer that question fully. Do you feel you can allow the inner child to take over? Do you feel as though you can surrender your body and mind in full submission to your future husband? To your future papa?"
"I do not know how to be a little."
"You will be trained to do so. You would become a pupil of the Ashby Chateau for however long it takes to truly become a little to your papa."
"May I meet this suitor?" Giana asked. "I mean, in order to fully understand what is being asked of me, I would like to meet this gentleman who is asking me to be little. I feel that is only fair." She had spent a week with the girls, tending to Teresa, caring for her. Would it not feel good to have someone pay special attention to her? The thought had crossed her mind repeatedly, but it had not ever seemed a possibility. Deep down, she had craved what Teresa had in store for her future. And now Philip
Hartley was offering her the same opportunity. It was as simple as saying yes.
"I cannot do that. You must understand the anonymity that our clients seek should you refuse his hand. I assure you, Giana, that any gentleman who comes through the door of the Ashby Chateau has been thoroughly checked out and is worthy of marriage."
With one simple agreement, her entire life could change. She could explore a feeling she did not even realize she had until becoming a nanny. She could be cared for, nurtured, protected… possibly even loved. For the first time, in a very long time, she could have someone else take care of her.
Without further evaluating what it really meant and giving herself the chance to talk herself out of it, she nodded. "Yes. I shall become his little one."
"I think that is a very wise choice. I will give him the good news. You may have the rest of the day off to prepare yourself for what is to come. Tomorrow, when you awaken, we will have a room ready for you to become little."
Giana's stomach tensed at the thought of being a little at the chateau. She imagined that the gentleman who had been standing outside the window of the playroom, watching her, had wanted her little, in his home, as his wife. She was also aware she would be subjected to the same rules and lifestyle as the other littles at the Ashby. Her hands trembled with nerves. How would the other littles respond to seeing her join them? She and Teresa had not always got along, but they had managed to do well enough. Would all that change now that she was no longer a nanny? Giana hoped that she had not made a grave mistake in accepting this new opportunity. What if she disappointed her papa and Headmaster Philip? The knot in her stomach only seemed to grow at the realization that tomorrow she, too, would have her own nanny if she was joining the littles upstairs. Who would it be? She had not interacted much with Nanny Vivian over the past week. She seemed like a nice enough young woman, who knew how to control her charges. What about Nanny Beth? Giana did not think she could survive being placed under her care.
