Page 9 of Missing Piece (Neon Scars #2)

“What rules?”

“I assume you enjoy being alive, yes? These rules will ensure your survival,” Vincent said, his tone still not matching the uncertainty in his gorgeous blue eyes .

“‘Enjoy’ is a bit of a stretch,” Adam said, his answer more sarcastic than he intended. “But yes, I’d like to still be breathing by the end of…whatever this is.”

Vincent’s mouth formed the slightest pout even as he continued to smirk. “And what exactly do you think ‘this’ is?”

Maybe it was the closeness, or his hangover, or side effects from being drugged, but the sudden urge to lean over and kiss Vincent right on his pouty mouth hit Adam like a ton of bricks.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Adam let out a breath through his nose.

“Best guess? You are a very not-human human trafficker. I interrupted whatever that freak show behind the club was, probably related to whatever you’re doing, and now I’m here because you want to make sure I don’t go running my mouth to the cops,” Adam said.

Vincent started laughing, placing his hand on Adam’s knee as he did. “Now that is a new one. Very good, pet,” Vincent said. “You’re half correct.”

Adam really wanted to push Vincent’s hand off his knee, but he remembered how hard the guy could hit and clamped his mouth shut, his jaw aching.

“About the not-human part,” Vincent added, moving his hand from Adam’s knee to his side on the bed. “Human trafficking sounds messy, and I’m not fond of messes I can’t clean up in a single night.”

Adam narrowed his eyes at Vincent, ignoring the part of him that urged him to keep things civil. “So what the fuck am I doing here, man? I don’t care what you are, I care that I’m fucking chained to a bed and you still have my goddamn foot somewhere,” Adam snapped.

Adam’s head whipped to the side, pain erupting in its wake.

The left side of his face and jaw throbbed, bringing tears to his eyes.

“What the fuck?!” The next blow landed before Adam could see it coming.

Pain ripped through the left side of his head, exploding behind his eye.

Adam clutched at his face, vision swimming with stars as his thoughts scattered.

All that remained was the agonizing throb in his head.

It took Adam a few seconds longer to realize he had fallen against the mattress.

This is how you got bit last time. Get up.

Trying to push himself up, his vision blurred with tears he wished he could control better.

No matter how many times Adam had been in a fight, it was always the blows to his face that brought the tears out.

It was irritating, but he never could figure out how some people managed to take a sucker punch to the face and not have their eyes water.

“Stay down,” Vincent said. His voice sounded strange, as though a gentle tone had been strained through a growl.

The weight on the bed shifted as Vincent’s face came into view, laying down beside Adam’s.

This is familiar. Why is it so familiar?

“What are you doing?” Adam asked, blinking away the tears clouding his vision.

The urge to shove Vincent away was strong, but his right eye throbbed and his vision still danced with splotches of black and white.

Vincent reached out, his thumb swiping away the small pool of tears gathered on the bridge of Adam’s nose.

“Rule one: Don’t be disrespectful when you speak to me.

I have a low tolerance for that stuff,” Vincent said, his tone almost apologetic.

“Rule two: Look at me when I speak to you. Rule Three: If I stay fed, you stay fed. I will treat you as well as you treat me, and yes, I will give you your foot when I trust you not to do something foolish.”

Adam stared at Vincent, trying to think of the best way to phrase his mixture of horror and irritation in a way that wouldn’t result in him getting his other eye rattled around his skull.

Go along with it. “If you stay fed?” Adam asked, his voice so soft he could barely hear himself speak the words.

“So, I’m not having some sort of fever dream, right? You’re a vampire.”

A small smile crept onto Vincent’s face as he began to stroke Adam’s burning cheek. “You’re smarter than most people give you credit for, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m just a junkie without a fix.” Adam pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t say anything snarkier than that.

Closing his eyes, he found himself suddenly soothed by Vincent’s cool fingertips on his burning skin.

Adam hated to admit it, but this was more intimate than he had been with anyone in a long time.

It almost felt…good. Opening his eyes, Adam realized he had broken eye contact. “I’m sorry—”

Vincent’s finger pressed to Adam’s lips. Tension ran through Adam as he waited for whatever blow was about to hit him. Idiot. He just told you the rules and you already fucked it up. Like always. Staring at Vincent, Adam looked for the anger or irritation in those icy eyes, but it wasn’t there.

“I get the sense that you’re much more than that,” Vincent said, almost to himself. Vincent ran his fingers along Adam’s chin, tracing the line of his jaw until his fingers ran through Adam’s unkempt hair.

“What are you doing?” Adam whispered, a shudder running through him as Vincent’s thumb stroked the shell of his ear. Goosebumps crawled across Adam’s skin, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. It felt good. Really good.

Don’t let this trick you. He just punched you in the face. He confirmed he’s not human. A vampire. A literal monster. But the way Vincent was looking at him didn’t make him think of a monster. Adam didn’t like it.

No.

Wait.

Adam did like it.

He just didn’t want to.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked again.

Vincent’s eyes drifted lower, to Adam’s lips. “I just…kind of want to…” Vincent leaned closer until his lips pressed against Adam’s.

Adam’s first instinct should have been to pull away.

To be disgusted. To hate how soft Vincent’s cool lips felt against his own.

But it had been a long time since anyone kissed him and an even longer time since he had done this while sober.

Adam pushed his face forward, squeezing his eyes shut as he did nothing to fight the warm, tingling heat spreading from his lips down to his neck and through his limbs.

This is playing too nice. Adam ignored the thought, his fists relaxing at his sides as the heat in his hands began to make his palms sweaty. The sound of his heart pounding in his ears was audible as he parted his lips, waiting to see what Vincent would do.

Vincent’s other hand pressed against Adam’s bare chest, the chill of it causing another eruption of goosebumps across his boiling skin. Vincent’s tongue flicked against his own, testing the waters of Adam’s open-mouthed invitation.

Adam tensed. Even Vincent’s tongue was kind of chilly, like kissing someone who had just sucked on an ice cube. Adam reached out, the tremble in his hand probably visible, until his fingers found Vincent’s hair.

Just go with it, he told himself, this will help you get out. Getting off is just a bonus if that’s how this goes .

Vincent groaned against him, his fingers twisting into Adam’s hair and gently pulling him closer, crushing their mouths together as he thrust his tongue into Adam’s mouth. The kiss was suddenly something different. Hurried.

Desperate.

Adam grasped a fistful of Vincent’s hair, telling himself it would be to push Vincent away in case things started to go too fast, but he knew that was a lie.

Vincent’s mouth tasted of something sweet and coppery, but the cool tongue greedily exploring his mouth was taking over the last remnants of common sense and self-control.

Vincent’s other hand moved to Adam’s hip, pulling the rest of him closer.

It had been way too long. Kissing this guy—this monster—was already making him painfully hard and sent the rest of his internal defenses crashing down as his body took over.

Vincent ground against him, allowing Adam to feel something long and hard press against his pelvis. “Oh fuck,” Adam gasped into Vincent’s mouth.

Vincent’s hand snapped to Adam’s chest, shoving him away on the bed.

Adam’s eyes bulged open, his lips on fire and his whole body loaded like a spring, ready to bounce off the bed.

What the fuck? Adam sat up as Vincent moved away from the bed, running his hands down his button-down shirt as he stared wide-eyed at Adam, the whites of his eyes having turned pitch black at some point.

This time, it didn’t make Adam’s skin want to crawl away from him. No. His skin was still hotter than it had ever been, his lips tingling, and Adam wanted Vincent’s unnatural touch to cool him down. That’s a bad idea.

“I…” Vincent panted, his voice trailing off as he shoved his hands in his pockets, his brow creased, and his eyes fixated on the ground.

Without another word, Vincent turned away, seeming to rock on his heels for a moment as though he were uncertain before vanishing from the bedroom, the door slamming behind him. Adam listened for movement outside of the room, but he couldn’t hear anything over his own heartbeat in his head.

“Well, that was fucking weird,” Adam mumbled to himself, adjusting his boxers as he stared at the door.

Adam knew he was prone to risk-seeking behavior, but making out with a monster was definitely one for his therapist’s notes.

She’d have a field day dissecting his internal logic and blasé attitude—that is if she didn’t immediately institutionalize him for saying vampires were real and were the reason he was violating his court-ordered therapy program.

Adam wondered if that would be before or after a judge signed a warrant for him.

His stomach growled, pulling him from his thoughts as he rubbed his index finger over his lower lip, unsure if he was trying to get rid of the taste of Vincent on his lips or press it deeper into his skin.

God damn, even for a monster, he is a fantastic kisser.

Adam glanced at the food growing stale on the nightstand Matteo had brought him, his stomach aching with its next gurgle.

Adam was too hungry to care if it was drugged.

Whatever, if it knocks me out, then I take a little nap.

It’s not like I have anything to do here.

Pulling at the front of his boxers, still half hard and uncomfortable, Adam crawled across the bed.

A glance at his stump made him wince at the sight of it before settling on top of the sheet beside the nightstand.

There was one plate of food with a beautifully laid out breakfast spread, another with what looked like a club sandwich from a local diner with a side of fruit and a bag of chips, and just a plate of fruit and vegetables, alongside two bottles of water and a bottle of soda. That was…not what Adam was expecting.

The small notepad and pen sat on the floor, having fallen off the bed at some point. Adam leaned down, grabbing it off the ground to look at the scribbled note from Matteo.

Pulling the pen from the cover of the notebook, Adam clicked it a few times as he wondered how much damage a pen could do against a regular human versus an admitted vampire. Probably not a lot. Especially not enough damage that Adam could get away on one foot.

The overhead light shone along the metal clip of the pen. Adam grinned to himself as he pulled the clip free from the body of the pen. Testing it between his fingers, he made sure it was solid and wouldn’t bend.

It didn’t. Adam pulled his left leg towards himself, turning the cuff against his ankle until he could see the ratchet gear that held the cuff in place.

A glance at the door showed him trying to focus his one eye that wasn’t still dancing with phosphenes on the doorknob.

It did seem kind of futile to try and watch the door.

Vincent was frighteningly fast. The vampire disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye, surely he could return just as fast to catch Adam in the act.

Whatever. It was a risk Adam would have to take.

Jamming the smoother end of the pen clip between the teeth of the cuff and the lock housing, Adam pushed on it with his thumb until the jagged edges where he had broken off the clip began to hurt.

There was a small click and Adam smiled as he pulled on the cuff, the piece sliding free and opening .

Note to self: You owe Robert a big thank you for that tip.

That crazy prepper bastard. Adam rubbed his raw ankle with one hand, appreciating how light that part of him felt for just a moment.

Removing the shim from the cuff, Adam shoved it under the pillow before locking his ankle in the cuff again.

The right moment to make a break for it needed to be waited for. Trying to run out now was a mistake.

Adam was still half naked and footless. He doubted he’d even make it out of the house before getting caught.

There was more to learn about where he was and how to win Vincent’s trust. Though if today was anything to go by, Adam could do it more quickly than he thought.

He just needed more answers about what the blond wanted, though he imagined his blood being on the menu is what Vincent had meant by keeping him fed.

Did that mean Adam’s body was up for grabs too?

It could be worse. Vincent could be hideous or unhygienic.

That would make playing along much more difficult.

Adam grabbed one of the sections of the club sandwich Matteo had brought him and took a bite, barely tasting it as he stared at the door. I’ll play nice, get this guy to trust me, no matter what it takes. I didn’t die from withdrawals. I’m not dying from this.