Page 18 of Run, Little Rabbit (Blood & Bonds #1)

Chapter Seventeen

Niki

S he looks beautiful hanging from the ceiling. Hung out like a piece of art for me to stare at and devour with my eyes. Her sweat, her fear, her desire—I want to taste it all and lick every inch of her.

I can see it in her eyes. Her adrenaline pumping through her veins as she watches the three of us, curious as to what we’ll do next.

I want to chase her, catch her and pin her to the ground before fucking her tight cunt.

I can see that she wants us. She might not have admitted it to herself quite yet, but I can see the way her pupils dilate.

The way her nostrils flare and how her jaw clenches.

It’s times like these that I miss my words the most. But I love that she can sign. That she has a way to understand me. It makes me feel seen in a way that I’ve only ever felt with Max and Angel.

“ Can you run?” I ask her, and I feel the curious look Maxim throws my way burning against my face.

I still can’t believe he let me kiss him like that.

It was so fucking hot. I want to feel his mouth around my cock, to know what his face looks like as I fuck his throat raw.

My hands itch to put him in his place. I want to punish him for all the times he’s pulled rank and taken what he wanted at the expense of everyone else.

I know he’s the boss, but sometimes he takes things too far, and I want to remind him that he’s not always right.

“If I need to,” she says, answering my earlier question. “Can you?”

I nod, stepping closer to her. I lean forward, brushing my nose along the curve of her cheek.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she says, her voice a little breathless.

I pull back and look her dead in the eye. “ I’m listening. ”

“Let me go, and if I can make it off the property, I go free.”

“ And if we catch you? ”

“Max, you can’t let this happen!” Angel whines, and I roll my eyes. The only thing he’s missing is a little stamp of his foot.

“ Angel, you really need to loosen up. Stop being a whiny little bitch.” I look back at my little rabbit. “ If we catch you… what do we get?”

She smiles, and it’s fucking beautiful. “Carte Blanche.”

Be still my fucking heart.

“Absolutely not!” Angel screeches, and I wince. Wow, the guy looks like he’s about to throw a hissy fit.

“ Why are you being such a drama queen?” I ask. “ It’s her idea. ” Although I was literally about to suggest the same thing. I can’t believe she said it, though. She must have a fucking death wish.

Or she’s perfect for us.

None of us have ever had a real relationship with a woman. I like things so extreme I have to go somewhere exclusive to get my satisfaction. And Maxim and Angel are so wrapped up in themselves they don’t seem to look outside their little bubble.

Well, until my little rabbit broke Max’s nose. Seemed like all he needed was a woman willing to commit violence to grab his attention. Echo Quinn certainly did that.

“Max?” Angel asks, a quiver of worry causing his voice to tremble. “This isn’t right.”

“Hey Angel. Look at me.” Echo says, but the doc doesn’t turn. “Andrew George Lexington the Third, you will look at me right the fuck now.”

A snort flies out of my nose. The fuck? How poncy is that name?

The scowl on Angel’s face is a little scary when he turns to face the girl in chains. “Don’t call me that.”

“Aww,” she pouts. “Still trying to leave all that shit behind?”

“Fuck you,” Angel seethes, and I cast a glance at Maxim to see what he makes of all this, but he just looks intrigued.

I wonder what Angel is running from. Most likely his family if he can’t stand the sound of his own name.

Echo certainly seems to know the guy, I feel like I’m missing something here.

“Angel has fucked her brothers,” Maxim clarifies for me.

“ The twins? Your Angel has fucked those two psychopaths? ”

Maxim says nothing but just nods, his mouth turned down in a grimace.

Oomph, I’m sensing a little jealousy there.

But jeez. Conor and Cillian Quinn were fucking crazy.

Like, absolute crazy fucking psychos. They make me look like a teddy bear, and I like to sever limbs—torturing people gets me off. Those guys… I shudder.

On second thoughts, it might explain why my little rabbit is so… wild.

“My brothers aren’t psychopaths,” Echo states. “They’re high-functioning sociopaths.”

“ Sorry for not understanding the difference,” I reply with an eye roll. Oh, sarcasm. How much I miss you. It’s so hard to make my hands sound sarcastic.

Her green eyes hold mine with a ferocity I wouldn’t expect in someone hanging from a meat hook. “Do we have a deal?”

I look at Maxim. He’s the decision-maker, and I’m sure Angel will get on board eventually.

He’s just cautious and thinking of the risks.

Rory Quinn is ruthless, and I know that us kidnapping his only daughter that he’s deliberately kept out of the family business, it is not going to sit well with him.

Especially since we’ve got something underhand going on in the ranks, a crate of missing guns, the hand of a rat and a dead little grass.

I wish I could have seen the looks on the terror twins' faces as they opened the pretty box I left on their doorstep. I put a lovely big red bow on it and had it delivered to their downtown apartment. You know, it’s really hard to find a sturdy gift box for putting a head in.

And I had to line it so that it wouldn’t leak blood everywhere.

I really hope the twins appreciated the effort that I put into their gift.

I wouldn’t go to that much trouble for just anyone.

“We need to establish rules,” Maxim says, drawing my attention away from memories of severed heads and back to chasing little rabbits. He turns to Angel. “Will that make you happier about this?”

“I suppose,” Angel grumbles and folds his arms across his chest. Angel may look like a little drama queen, but I know the guy could kill me with his bare hands. Which was kind of hot. All that power in someone so… temperamental. It will certainly make this little chase interesting.

Maxim walks to stand in front of Echo, and I get a glimpse of his ass in his tailored slacks. Fuck, how had I never noticed how sexy his ass is?

“Rule number one: no murder.”

“Pfft, spoilsport,” Echo mumbles.

“Rule number two: no serious maiming.” Max looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“ So a little bit of maiming is fine?” I could live with that.

“As long as I don’t need real medical attention, I’m game,” she says with a blasé tone.

“Is that so?” Max asks with a soft laugh.

“Yeah. I happen to like a bit of pain.” She winks saucily at him, and I’ve got a suspicious feeling that there’s a lot more to this woman than meets the eye. I mean, what kind of person feels comfortable winking at their captor while hanging from a meat hook?

“Rule number three: if Echo crosses the boundary, she goes free, and we give up the chase.” Maxim fixes his eyes on me for that one.

“ Fine.” I can obey the rules when I need to. I might not like it, but I know where I am in the hierarchy here. I respect it when Maxim is being the boss.

Maxim turns back to Echo. “You have anything to add?”

“Rule number four: no ruining my fucking hair.”

“ It’s okay, little rabbit. I’ll wrap it around my fist while I’m fucking your ass.”

She gives a sharp inhale, and the tip of her tongue flicks out to wet her lips.

“Any other demands?” Angel asks, taking a step closer to Echo. “Now’s the time, because in a moment, I’m going to take you out of the chains, check you over and start counting.”

Echo tips her head to one side, thinking for a moment. “No safe words. I get a five-minute head start. Oh, and give me a knife.”

Smart girl. I reach under my shirt and pull a knife from its sheath at my back. “ You can have one of mine, little rabbit. ”

“Only one?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

“ Yes, I’m going to need the other one to carve my name over your heart.”

She huffs a laugh like she doesn’t quite believe I’ll do it. But I will. I’ll do it while my cock is buried deep in her cunt and she’s screaming my name.

“Okay,” she says with a nod. “I’m ready.”

I clap my hands and rub them together. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.

I walk over to Echo and sink my hands into her waist. The soft mesh of her corset slides against my skin as I lift her down from the hook.

“Fucking son of a dickbag,” she moans as her arms slump.

She’s fucking perfect.

I untie the cords from her wrists and rub the circulation back into her fingers. She hisses and winces.

“ Sorry,” I sign.

“ That’s okay,” she signs back. “They’re just sore.”

Her signing is a little rough, her fingers blocky and the words a little jagged and unordered, but the fact that she signs for me makes something inside me flutter.

Angel takes a step towards us and reaches out to inspect her wrists. “Let me take a—”

I snarl at him like a feral beast warning someone away from his territory. He holds his hands up placatingly and wisely moves backwards.

“Nikita,” Maxim barks, and my shoulders tense. Great. The man is in full Boss mode. “Let Angel take a look at her wrists.”

“My wrists are fine,” Echo grumbles, pulling them out of my grasp. She steps in front of Maxim and holds her hand out. “So, we’ve set the rules and the boundaries of the race. If I reach the boundary, you have to let me go. Do we have a deal?”

Max wraps his large hand around hers and gives it a firm shake. “We have a deal.”

“Maxim. A word,” Angel says curtly, and the smiling demon walks off to the corner with his precious angel. I wonder what that’s about.

“ Stay here. ”

She hits me with a flat look. “Where am I going to go, He-Man?”

I roll my eyes at her and join the other two and their agitated whispers.

“—could start a war, Max?” Angel hisses.

“We’re already at war. The Quinns just don’t know it yet.” Max’s voice is low and lethal.

Angel’s face pales to a sickly white. “What have you done?”

“ Sent a head to the twins.”

“The fuck?” Angel yells.

I slap his arm and throw a quick glance at Echo. Unsurprisingly, she’s watching us like a hawk. “ Keep your voice down.”

“ That’s how you disposed of the body?” Angel asks, incredulity lacing his words. “You sent Alex’s head to the twins?”

Max shrugs. “I thought it was poetic. I can’t have them thinking I’m an easy mark because I let them have a conversation with one of my men. I needed to send a message, and Niki delivered it for me.”

Angel pinches the bridge of his nose. “And this? This chasing Rory’s daughter through the woods is just for fun ?”

“Yes,” Max says. “But if Rory Quinn happens to turn up to rescue his daughter, I won’t waste the opportunity.”

“He’s not going to turn up himself.” I doubt Rory was the kind of guy to get his hands dirty. He’ll probably send a small team in to get her back. “We need to be on guard.”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Nikita. We’ll see him coming if he finds this place.” Again with using my full name. Max is starting to get pissed.

“I’m just saying—”

“I hear you.” Max turns the full weight of his stare on me and it sets my insides sizzling. “But having Echo here can only be a good thing. I want to know what Rory Quinn is playing at. And I can use her as leverage to get the information I want.”

His words leave a sour taste in my stomach.

“I don’t care if it pisses you off. There’s more at stake here than your little obsession.

I’m all for a game of cat and mouse, but we all know she’s not leaving here until I get what I want.

And if I can’t get that from Rory, I’ll get it from her.

” Max turns to Angel. “Get her ready, Doc, and then we can get this over with.”

He turns on his heel and walks out of the basement without another backwards glance.

“ What’s his game?”

Angel shakes his head. “My guess, he’s toying with her and letting her think she has the upper hand with this little game of hers. And when she least expects it, he’ll break her before throwing her back to her father.”

I look over at Echo, standing there in the dirty basement in nothing but her underwear and still managing to look like a fucking queen.

“He might try to break her, but I don’t think he’ll win with this one.

” I think she’s got a darkness lurking in her that will put all of us to shame.

I can feel it. See it swirling in those eyes that look like the colour of the forest. There’s a danger hiding in their depths, a spark of madness waiting to burn into chaos, and I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

Perhaps she’ll destroy us all.