Page 67 of Missing Piece (Neon Scars #2)

S now fell steadily onto the fire escape outside of Marcus Graves’s penthouse, but Adam couldn’t feel the chill in the air.

Or maybe he could and it just didn’t matter in the moment.

Vincent’s hands burned a trail of desire everywhere they wandered, slipped beneath his thick winter coat and under his t-shirt.

Adam pursed his lips, determined not to make a sound as Vincent scooted behind him and made Adam keenly aware of the fact that he was very hard.

Adam reached back and grabbed a fistful of Vincent’s hair as the clearly horny vampire nuzzled his neck.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, breathless as one of Vincent’s hands trailed down to the top of his jeans.

“Mmm, what do you think?” Vincent huffed before licking a strip up his neck to his ear.

This man is going to kill me. “You’re being a perv,” he replied, tightening his grip on Vincent’s hair but making no attempt to force him away.

Vincent’s hand slid down, cupping Adam’s growing erection through his jeans. “I’m so fucking hard for you right now,” he purred, his voice husky with desire. “I can make you feel so good, no one has to know what we’re doing out here.”

Adam’s breath hitched, his body betraying his attempt at restraint. He squirmed against Vincent’s touch, torn between pushing into it and pulling away. “I’m not letting you fuck me on a balcony,” he insisted, though his resolve was weakening by the second.

“You wanna fight about it?” Vincent’s fingers traced the outline of Adam’s cock over his jeans.

Adam’s head fell back against Vincent’s shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed. “That will just make both of us worse,” he groaned, knowing full well how their playful scuffles usually ended.

“Yeah, but won’t that be fun?” Vincent nipped at Adam’s earlobe.

Adam’s grip on Vincent’s hair tightened, pulling him closer even as he tried to maintain some semblance of control. “Don’t tempt me,” he warned.

Vincent’s lips curved into a wicked grin against Adam’s skin. “I live for it,” he murmured, his hand working more insistently against Adam’s jeans.

Adam yanked Vincent’s head back and twisted himself around, forcing his face into the vampire’s neck. “I’ll bite you again.”

“Don’t you dare,” Vincent warned, his tone a mixture of threat and excitement.

“Then go inside and enjoy your friend’s birthday party.”

Vincent scoffed. “He’s turning 201. He shouldn’t even be having parties at his age.”

“Go.”

Should I poke the beast?

Vincent placed his hand over Adam’s throat, his palm a hovering threat. “I’d rather have fun out here with you—”

I’m gonna poke the beast.

Without a second thought, Adam bit down hard on Vincent’s neck.

Vincent’s hand closed around his throat, squeezing just enough to catch Adam off guard.

Vincent pushed him back firmly, a growl rumbling from deep within him that was somewhere between pleasure and irritation.

“I can’t wait to make you pay for that later tonight. ”

“Promise?” Adam smirked, a rush of defiance flooding his veins.

In response, Vincent sank his fangs into the exposed flesh beneath Adam’s jawline, drawing a few drops of blood before pulling back with a satisfied grin. “Fine, enough foreplay.” He stood up, brushing the snow off his lap and adjusting himself with an almost casual grace.

Adam wiped the blood from his neck with the back of his hand. “You’re an asshole.”

“And you fucking love it.” Vincent leaned down to press a quick kiss against Adam’s lips. “I’m going to make you cry tonight,” he whispered before stepping back toward the French doors.

Adam watched Vincent disappear inside before he slid his legs between the rails of the fire escape and pressed his forehead to the cold metal, his breath forming misty clouds in the frigid air as he lit a cigarette.

He inhaled deeply as a smile tugged at his lips, warmth spreading through his chest that had nothing to do with the smoke.

Life with Vincent had been…good. Better than good. For the first time in years, Adam might even say he was genuinely happy. Content? Maybe that was the right word. The giddy rush of new love mixed with a deeper sense of belonging he’d never experienced before.

Adam had started helping out at the strip club as a bouncer on nights they didn’t spend tangled in a mess of sheets, though he suspected Vincent’s job offer was more of a paranoid way to keep an eye on him and less a desire to help him build a “normal human life” again.

He hadn’t been a fan of the environment before, but now from the employee side, he found most nights to be at least entertaining.

The job was mostly just keeping an eye out for drunk men and howling bachelorette parties causing trouble.

The cravings for pills still crept up on him occasionally, but he’d begun seeing a new therapist who came highly recommended by one of Vincent’s vampire friends.

Though he’d never outright asked if she was a vampire, he figured she must be—what with their nighttime appointments and her unflinching acceptance of his stories about living with vampires.

Talking to her hadn’t completely banished the nightmares about Richard, but at least they didn’t control his entire day anymore.

Vincent had started seeing her too, which was an even bigger surprise than when Adam admitted to himself he needed someone to talk to. It had been like watching a storm calm; Vincent was more open, less on edge, and less prone to breaking things while trying to hide the fact he was uncomfortable.

Adam felt the smile fade from his face as he flicked ash from his cigarette.

Despite everything feeling like it was okay, there were still things that gnawed at him, like tonight’s party.

The apartment teemed with vampires: some familiar faces, others strangers.

But what really unsettled him was Caleb.

Marcus and Caleb were officially a couple now, and while Adam’s therapist had suggested reaching out to Caleb for some human connection within their unusual world, he’d been hesitant.

Guilt over the car accident that left Caleb scarred gnawed at him constantly.

And then there was everything Caleb had just endured—torture at the hands of hunters—a fresh layer of trauma that Adam felt guilty even thinking about comparing to his own.

Finishing his cigarette, Adam’s eyes drifted back toward the French doors leading into Ophelia’s room. Through the curtain, he could see her outline along with another person’s shadowy form.

“Don’t hide out there all night,” Ophelia’s high-pitched monotone voice carried through as she opened the door slightly. “And give this to him.”

Caleb Walsh stood there, a nervous smile on his face as he held out a beer in Adam’s direction.

Adam’s eyes flicked to the scar that ran from Caleb’s forehead down to his chin, quickly averting his gaze to avoid staring.

A pang of guilt twisted in his gut as he reached out and took the beer without standing up, nodding his thanks, suddenly lost for words.

Caleb shoved his hands into his pockets and moved over to Adam, leaning on the rail and looking at the sky. “Sorry to intrude, I just needed to get out of there for a bit.”

Adam took a sip of beer. “I get it. It’s hard to tell when they’re just being normal creepy or hungry creepy.”

Caleb’s frowned. Adam quickly backpedaled, “I’m joking. I know they can be intense.”

They fell into an awkward silence. I should say something. Anything. The longer I don’t say something, the weirder this is going to get.

Caleb broke the silence first. “Adam, I know this is forward of me, but if you’re in trouble, you can tell me. I’m sure Marcus can help.”

Adam furrowed his brow. “Trouble?”

“Yeah, you know, if Vincent is hurting you…?”

Adam laughed, touching his neck where Vincent had bitten him. “Hurting me? Oh no, no that’s…this isn’t that.”

Caleb remained earnest. “I’ve seen the marks…the bruises. And bites. How he treats you…”

Adam shook his head. “No, I’m serious, what you saw before wasn’t Vincent, not really. Well, most of it wasn’t.”

So he laid it all out. The kidnapping, the failed trialing, everything with Richard, it all poured out of him like a firehose, though he was strangely detached from the words as he spoke them. Caleb sat down on the fire escape with him, listening, silent and hanging on his every word.

Caleb glanced down as Adam finished telling him about Vincent’s vow to stop being a chest-thumping dick, his eyes darting back and forth, unfocused like he was processing the information he just took in.

“So…that first day back in the club, when I saw Vincent hurting you, it was all because of this other vampire? And the marks on your wrists…do you just heal slowly?”

Adam pulled the sleeves of his coat back down, having forgotten that restraint marks were generally frowned upon in polite society.

Living with vampires warps what is considered normal, his therapist always reminded him.

“Um, no, that’s recent. We tend to play rough over at the farm,” he chuckled before taking another sip of beer.

Caleb’s cheeks flushed even redder than the icy air had already made them and he buried his face in his hands. “Oh my God, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Adam gestured at the bright red bandage on Caleb’s neck, “ It looks like Mr. Graves plays a little on the rough side too. Or you suck at shaving and like to do your hair like you’ve just been fucked silly on a daily basis.

” Foot. Meet mouth. “Sorry, I, uh, have issues with controlling my inner filter. That wasn’t nice. ”

Caleb’s bright smile lit up his face. “It’s okay, honestly, it’s a relief.

Every time I tried to ask Marcus or Tariq what was going on with you and Vincent, they would always say ‘it wasn’t their story to tell’.

I know we haven’t always gotten along, but I’m genuinely glad you’re not in any danger. ”