Page 2 of Run, Little Rabbit (Blood & Bonds #1)

Chapter Two

Echo

V eon grips the steering wheel of the car. He doesn’t approve of my nighttime activities, not that he ever tells me. He tends to just sit there and scowl at me disapprovingly, and I put the effort into ignoring him and looking the other way, so the ride home is quiet and tense.

I don’t mind the quiet though. More time for thinking then. And watching. Observing. Like the way Veon’s jaw twitches every time he takes a breath, as if he’s trying to keep himself calm and hold himself back from telling me what he really thinks.

He’s been my bodyguard for the last two years, and I don’t really know much about him other than what his CV and family tree say.

Thirty-six.

Ex-Military.

Excelled in long-rangeshooting—handy when you need a sniper.

Discharged with honours following several tours in various different places.

Son to Seamus and Annie, brother to Tallula.

And that’s it.

That’s all I know. In two years, I’ve learnt nothing else.

“What’s your favourite colour?” I ask on a whim, not expecting an answer, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

He sighs, and it’s a deep rumble I feel all the way to my toes.

Oh, did I forget to mention the man is hot ?

Like sex on a stick, panty melting, want to climb that man like a fucking tree hot.

The guy should be on the cover of a magazine.

His eyes are a piercing shade of cornflower blue, like a cloudless sky but so full of sorrow that I have the urge to just wrap my arms around him and hug away the pain.

Not that he’d ever let me touch him in that way because he’s a complete stick-in-the-mud.

And his hair… fuck me. It’s a dark auburn with these strands of gold woven through the soft waves, and it looks effortlessly brushed away from his high forehead.

His nose is a little crooked, and his mouth is almost too wide for his face, but it all merges to somehow make him look completely and utterly delectable.

Veon flicks his gaze towards mine briefly before focusing back on the road. I’m a little disappointed. I mean, I didn’t expect him to answer, but would it kill him to just—

“Green.”

My jaw drops. Did I just hear him correctly? Did the silent monolith just speak?

“Green?”

He nods. “Emerald green.”

I reach over and press the back of my hand to his forehead. “You feeling okay?”

He slaps my hand away with a snarl, and I can’t help but chuckle. He’s so easy to rile up.

“I’m fine.”

I snort. “You know what ‘ fine ’ stands for, don’t you?”

Another sigh with a disapproving scowl.

“Freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional.” I count them with my fingers. Still nothing, and I know it’s because I left a corpse in some seedy back office. “You know Bennie had it coming, right?”

I don’t know why I seek his approval. Maybe it’s because my dad doesn’t know and thinks I’m only good for marrying off to the highest bidder. But Veon knows . He knows my secret, and perhaps, for once, I just want someone to be proud of me.

“It’s foolish,” he says in a deep, condescending tone.

“Why? Because you don’t think I can take care of myself?”

He shakes his head. “No, because Bennie Walker wasn’t only selling secrets to the Volkovs.”

I knew that. Like I said, I do my research. Bennie sells anything of value to whoever wants it. Doesn’t mean he’s useful. “So what? Does that mean he gets to live and hurt other young boys?”

Veon slams the brakes, and the car lurches to a stop. The seatbelt cuts into my chest, and I throw my hand out to brace against the impact.

He looks at me, and his eyes blaze with anger. But at what? I hope it’s not me for killing some slimy piece of shit.

“Of course not,” he growls. “But killing Bennie might start a war.”

“Ha,” I bark. “That guy wasn’t that important. He’s not even in middle management.”

“Not the point.” He points his finger at me. “You’ve just put a target on your back by leaving your calling card.”

I smile sweetly up at him. “But that’s what I have you for, to protect my six.”

Veon drags his hand down his face. “There’s only so much I can do, and Bennie had loyal customers. Customers that are going to be pissed now that they can’t buy secrets.”

I shrug my shoulders. He isn’t going to convince me that what I did was wrong. Bennie was a monster, and I wasn’t going to let him hurt another kid. “Did Charlie ring your sister?”

His shoulders droop, and a heavy sigh leaves his beautiful mouth. “Yes. He’s making his way to the estate, and she will take him in.”

Good. It’s not very often I get a chance to save someone, so I let that little feeling of warmth spread through my chest for a few minutes before locking it down.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” I dig Bennie’s phone out of my bag and wave it in his face like a mighty trophy. “Think you can get something off this?”

“The fuck is that?” He hits me with a flat stare, and my skin flushes. Sometimes he looks at me like he hates me, and it sets my core on fire. “That had better not be Bennie’s phone.”

“And if it is?” I say sweetly, batting my eyelashes.

A tirade of muttered curse words leaves his mouth, and I almost chuckle. One day I’ll break him.

“What if someone can track it?”

“Pfft. You think Bennie is going to be stupid enough to have a phone that can be tracked?” I wave it in his face again. “Look at this thing. It’s like military grade or some shit.”

“Give it here.” Veon snatches it out of my hand and examines it, turning it over between his fingers. The longer he looks at it, the deeper his scowl gets. It makes my fingers itch to trace it.

This longing isn’t one-sided, by the way. I see the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not watching. With a yearning that burns my skin.

But Veon has this thing about duty and blah blah blah. I mean, I get it, I do, but sometimes he looks at me like he wants to punish my ass and fuck me into oblivion, and let’s be real, I am down for that .

I think he’s also got a bee in his bonnet about being eleven years older than me, but I could not give a shit. I’m twenty-five, and I’m pretty sure that makes me an adult, but whatever.

“I’m keeping this.” Veon slips the phone into his jacket pocket.

“What? No.” I lash out, but he blocks my hands, pushing them away with force. “Give that back.”

He huffs a laugh and smirks at me like I’m adorable, and it makes my blood boil. This time, I hurl myself towards him, over the centre of the car and into his lap. I thrust the heel of my palm up at his chin, then drop my elbow into the soft spot beneath his ribs.

He wheezes out a breath, but it doesn’t seem to slow him down.

I scramble to get my fingers into his jacket pocket, but he’s quicker than I anticipate, and in the small space of the driver’s seat, it’s not long before he has my wrists trapped in one of his giant hands and the other is twisted in my hair and yanking my head backwards.

“Echo.”

Fuck, my name sounds like a threat. All low and raspy and full of warning.

I moan. I can’t help it. Veon has that effect on me. Like a match to gasoline, we’re explosive.

Or I imagine we would be if I could ever get him to give in. At the moment, we simmer, just waiting for that spark to set us off.

“Veon… please.” I know I’m begging, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I roll my hips, only a little, but I feel him lengthen beneath me.

“Not gonna happen, princess.” He tightens his grip in my hair, and I hiss. “Now, be a good girl and get back in your seat, or we’re going to have a problem.”

Jesus. Does he even know what he does to me?

I lean closer, my breath ghosting over his lips. “Make me.”

The snarl that leaves his lips is feral, and my world blurs as he practically hurls me across the car, letting go of me like my touch burns him. I giggle like a maniac as he puts the car in gear and drives off, the tyres spinning and squealing on the tarmac.

He doesn’t say anything else to me as we drive home to my gilded cage; there’s just an occasional huff, a muttered swear word and the very audible grinding of his teeth.

We pull into the garage of my family home, and he hops out, moving around the car and opening the door for me. Even though this is my home, he’s still on high alert, and it reminds me that he’s only here to do a job. He’s not here because he wants to be.

The thought pisses me off more than it should, and it’s probably because deep down—somewhere I’ve refused to believe I have feelings—I actually care about the giant stick in the mud.

But that can be a tomorrow problem. Hell, it can be a next fucking century problem considering the current state of our relationship.

Or lack of one.

I refuse to take his hand as I step out of the car; it’s petty, I know, but fuck him. I’ll find my fun somewhere else.

He doesn’t say anything either. Always in control, and I can never seem to get him to lose it. I’ll probably have to do something drastic like get shot or get kidnapped to elicit an actual emotional response.

Even then, the odds are probably five to one that he’ll actually care. Most likely he’ll be more annoyed I got hurt on his watch.

“That’ll be all, Veon. You can go.” I throw him the most condescending look I can over my shoulder, but the guy doesn’t react. Hmm, I’ll have to try harder. “I’m going to invite Kai over.”

The muscle below his left eye twitches. It’s a minuscule response, but I see it.

Kai and I used to be fuck buddies, but we haven’t had sex in a long time, preferring just to be friends, but Veon doesn’t know that.

He still sees Kai as my go-to booty call, and yes, I know I’m being a manipulative asshole, but I love watching him squirm.

“Understood,” he says with a curt nod. “I’ll inform the gatehouse.”

Then he turns on his heel and disappears into the night.