Free Bottoms Up by Miranda Baker Page A

his head in the right space to do it properly. Which meant he had to lose the anger that had dogged him ever since Karina had arrived with her slave.
    Destiny had shriveled at his feet the minute they walked in the room. He wasn’t stupid. He’d watched her Downtown, and every sub she took out of the club looked exactly like that guy. Who was he? What did he mean to her? And why the hell was she crying?
    “I’ll be right back.” He crossed the room to choose a clear Lexan cane from a stand in the corner. He would have preferred rattan, but he didn’t want to leave Destiny long enough to run back to his bedroom.
    She looked luminous on the table, her petite, naked form outlined in black leather. She jumped when he brushed the hair off her shoulders, but settled under his steady caresses. He eased her black boots from her feet and began to massage them, taking as much information from her body as he could. Her calves were tense, her thighs solid bands of tight muscle, but slowly she began to unwind beneath his fingers.
    His hands moved up her body. Ah, that ass, that perfect round ass. His fingers curved around her sweet spot, just above either side of her inner thigh. Glorious. He stroked one finger down the length of her tailbone, then forced himself higher, gliding over her lower back. Her ribs and shoulder blades were clearly outlined beneath her pale flesh, and he worshiped each hill and valley of her ribcage with his fingertips. He would place his strokes very carefully between her ribs and not have to worry about hurting her—well, causing damage, anyway.
    His palms soothed her shoulders until her trapeziums no longer felt like handfuls of tight rubber bands and her deep, even breaths told him she was as relaxed as she was going to get.
    Should he bind her? Would she hold still for him? He liked the idea of her choosing his touch, but it might be simpler for her to process being hit with a cane if he tied her to the table. The ropes would symbolically restrict her free will, just as they physically restrained her body, taking the choice away from her, making it easier for her to bear.
    It was the sadist in him that refused to reach for the cuffs. Instead, he began to tap her body with his fingers. He concentrated on the area between her spine and her shoulder blade, between each rib, over her ass and her thighs—dull thuds intended to ready her for the stroke of his cane. He kept one hand on her, always, to keep her accustomed to his touch. Destiny was a stubborn one—she might not tell him what she needed, but her body couldn’t lie. He would sense any disturbances in her muscles.
    He began to rub her back with the cane, visiting all the places he had readied with his hands. He bounced a light blow across her shoulder. She didn’t move. Perfect. He continued lightly, testing each stroke, more flutter than sting. A soft sigh broke from her lips.
    Last weekend, he had learned her body with a flogger and a crop, but a cane had a lot less give to it. He would take the time to learn her limits again. Destiny liked pain with her pleasure, but he had two things working against him—she’d never been caned before, and she had some sort of major headfuck going on tonight. He had to work her slowly, gradually increasing the intensity of each blow. Best-case scenario, she’d fall in love with his cane. Worst-case scenario, she’d get stiff as a board and he’d have to end the scene or risk hurting her.
    He stroked her lightly, working his way down her body, waiting for her muscles to turn to taffy under his hands. He planned to drive her so firmly into subspace that her body became an extension of his will. By the time he was finished with her, she would have so many endorphins flooding her system, she’d take any stroke he dished out and beg for more.
    Destiny giggled as he landed a flurry of soft taps right in the middle of her butt, making the softly muscled globes jiggle. He focused his attention on her