Bottoms Up by Miranda Baker Page A

out what he was going to say to her when she found him.
    Too late.
    The ominous sound of her bootheels on the polished hardwood floor sounded like a warning. Clad in skintight leather from the tips of her toes to the tips of her breasts, her dreadlocks flying around her face like dramatic snakes, she looked like a deadly Medusa with an angel’s face. The only thing that could have made her more enthralling would have been a whip in her hand.
    Hell hath no fury was right. She looked like she would cheerfully murder him with a roomful of eyewitnesses and not feel a moment’s regret.
    Her voice was mild. “Run away much, motherfucker?”
    “Mind your mouth, babe, you’re Uptown, now.”
    She cast a disparaging glance around the bar. “Fuck you.”
    “Again? So soon? It would be my pleasure.” Conflicted or not, he couldn’t resist baiting her, just for the pleasure of watching her struggle for control. If they had been standing on the street, she might have spit in his face. As it was, he would lay money on her throwing a punch soon.
    Destiny put her hands on her hips. “I don’t allow myself to be treated like a whore in the name of fun, Johnny. What you did to me last night was wrong. No self-respecting Dom would walk out on a scene like that. You dumped me in Matt’s lap like garbage. I deserve an explanation.”
    “Destiny, we can’t have this discussion in front of customers.”
    “Well, I’m not going anywhere else with you.”
    Johnny leaned close, risking her fists to make his point. “We both know if I touch you, you’ll do anything I want.”
    “Try it.” Her dare made him hard as a rock. She’d mastered her temper for the moment, but she was throwing off energy like a sparkler. The look in her eyes was calm, cold and livid. “You think I can’t resist you? Thank your lion pride for that misapprehension. Fucking Leo.”
    Johnny tossed a glance over his shoulder. His second-in-command waved him away from the bar. “Got it, Johnny.”
    He lifted the bridge and stepped to her side of the bar. He put his hand on her arm. She didn’t pull away, or in any way respond to his touch. Oh, what he’d give to put her on her knees in front of him right now. She was so strong, so defiant, so absolutely dangerous to the careful life he had built. His cock pulsed and his grip tightened. He forced himself to drop her arm.
    He gestured toward the back hall and his office. “After you.”
    She shoved him away and swept toward the back of the bar, barely giving him a chance to shut his office door before she attacked.
    “I allowed you to Dominate me, so drop the whole über-Dom act. There aren’t that many men who could do it, and even fewer whom I would allow the privilege. It’s not like I don’t understand the dynamics of Dominance and submission. You had a responsibility to me last night, and we both know it. Why did you leave?”
    What could he tell her? The truth was just too pathetic, and all the lies he had been telling himself were insulting and untrue.
    Destiny narrowed her eyes. “Okay, let’s start with this. Who’s Lisa?”
    “Who told you about Lisa?” Dread sparked in his chest.
    “Matt came to see me at work today.” Johnny juggled the emotions her words caused. Anger and surprise, mostly, but jealousy too. “Are you married, Johnny?”
    He snorted. “Not even close.” Bitterness welled in his chest.
    Fuck it. He owed her an explanation, a real one. If he had been honest with her the night she had challenged him to explain his need for Dominance, he would have saved them both time and trouble. He sighed and sank into one of the chairs in front of his desk. She sat in the other one. “Lisa was Matt’s older sister and my girlfriend. She was brave, fearless, constantly looking for the next adventure. Right up until the moment she drank a six-pack and decided to climb Glen Falls.”
    “The waterfall in that park on Mill Street?”
    He nodded. “There’s a guardrail there now, but