Page 90 of Missing Piece
A hand brushed his thigh. Richard’s touch.Oh God, he wasn’t bluffing…He kicked out, thrashing wildly against the hold.
Suddenly, he was sixteen again, stumbling away from that house party. The memory punched him in the gut with the desperate need to escape. And then…Caleb. Guilt, thick and choking, rose in his throat.
Adam’s pulse pounded in his temples, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The past and present blurred, threatening to consume him. He clenched his fists, the knife handle digging into his palm, anchoring him to reality when Richarddug his fingers into Adam’s thighs and forced them down against the table. “This struggle has been great foreplay, but I think you wanna stop fightin’ now.”
The muscles in his legs relaxed first, tired and sore, and he heard his own thoughts trying to coax him into stopping the fight. Richard was using his ability. Adam relaxed his lower back against the table, letting the tip of the knife bite into his own flesh to push away the thoughts. But that brought the panic back as Richard traced his waistband with an excruciatingly slow drag of his nail.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Adam snapped, his entire body shaking as he fought the urge to begin kicking again on top of the urge to succumb to Richard’s suggestions.
“I’m goin’ to do whatever I want to you, little pet, and you’re goin’ to let me. Hell, I may even encourage you to beg me to touch you.” Richard grinned and then turned to Vincent. “And you, my friend, you’re goin’ to watch him die inside. There’s always a moment when this little light goes out of the eyes when you fuck the fighty ones. I want you to see it. Then, and only then, I will consider you forgiven for a century of abandonment. So look each other in the eyes for this next part.”
“Look at me, Adam,” Vincent managed, the words strained.
Adam’s breath hitched as Richard’s hand tightened on his hip. Slowly, forcing his stiff muscles to cooperate, Adam looked up Vincent. Vincent’s jaw clenched, the tendons in his neck strained and veins bulging. But Vincent’s eyes, fixed on him with an intensity that bordered on desperation, held a silent command:Play along.
You can do this. You can make him believe he’s in control.Adam let out a shaky breath, trying to school his featuresinto a mask of reluctant acquiescence. His stomach churned. He hated the way Richard’s words made his skin crawl, hated the way his own body wanted to betray him, relaxing slightly under Richard’s touch.
“Good boy,” Richard said. “See, Vincent? He’s already learnin’ his place.”
“Please…don’t do this,” Adam begged, hating how small and unsure he sounded.
Richard chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that sent shivers down Adam’s spine. “Stop already? Where’s the fun in that?” He leaned over Adam, chest-to-chest so his lips could brush Adam’s ear. “Besides, I need to remind my good friend here how to properly break a pet in, since he seems to have forgotten.”
Vincent’s expression remained a mask of controlled fury, but Adam could see the muscle in his jaw flexing, his brow furrowed, and black and blue eyes glistening with bloody tears even in the dim light of the electric lantern. They were both caught in a terrifying stasis where neither of them could do anything but wait for the right moment.
This moment needs to happen soon.
Richard’s fingers moved again, this time tugging on the zipper of Adam’s jeans. The sound seemed to echo in the silence of the room, each click of the metal on his zipper hammer blow to Adam’s chest. “Stop!” Adam cried out, his body shaking with the urge to drop the façade and slash out at the vampire with the knife.
Richard only laughed.
“I said…stop,” Adam repeated, his face burning with shame. As much as he wanted to tell himself he was acting…putting on a show that Richard’s control was working on both of them, he couldn’t deny the doubt still swirling in his head. It was taking every fiber of his being to stave off Richard’s suggestions, his mouth a mess of raw, swollen and bleeding tissue.How long could he keep this up? How long could Vincent?“Please, I don’t…I don’t like this.”
“Oh, I know you don’t,” Richard pouted, the words dripping with false sympathy. “But that’s half the fun of it, isn’t it?”
He felt his pants being pulled down to his thighs. “Vincent, please…” Adam gasped, unsure if he was just trying to sell the illusion or begging Vincent to do something to make it stop. “Please don’t let him do this…”
“I do so love when the beggin’ starts,” Richard mused, tracing a finger along Adam’s thigh until he settled two fingers on the outside of his boxers near his groin, directly over his femoral artery. “This is one of my favorite places to drink from. It’s intimate and sweet, but it also hurts the humans like a motherfucker. Vincent may not have told you, but our master always started his playdates by bitin’ us here, gettin’ us good and woozy, and then he’d satisfy his other hungers. It’s only fittin’ for our little party to begin here.”
The frigid air hit his exposed skin as Richard pulled up the leg of his boxers, revealing the vulnerable flesh of his inner thigh. Richard’s fingers traced along Adam’s thigh, sending involuntary shivers through his body. “Now, what shall we do to make this more…entertainin’?” Richard asked, cruel amusement coloring his words. “Should I make you beg for my touch, little pet? Or perhaps…” His gaze wandered to Vincent. “I could have your lover use his powers to make you enjoy this.”
Terror gripped Adam’s heart, squeezing it like a vise. “No,” he choked out. “Vincent, please…don’t let him do this. Don’t…don’t make me…” The words caught in his throat, panic threatening to overwhelm him.
Richard’s fangs grazed Adam’s skin, the sharp points pressing against his inner thigh. Adam’s entire body tensed in anticipation of the pain to come. He heard the jingle of Richard’s belt buckle, the sound cutting through the silence like a blade. Adam’s eyes widened, able to only utter a desperate whisper: “Please—”
White-hot agony tore through his leg as Richard’s fangs sank into the sensitive skin, ripping a strangled cry from his throat. His entire torso curled upwards and inwards as the muscles in his body contracted against the pain.
“Now!” Vincent roared, releasing his hold and lurching backward.
Adam bolted up so fast the room spun, his vision blurring as Richard’s fangs tore through the flesh of his thigh. But his hand stayed steady as he swung the concealed knife in a wide arc down in front of him. The blade connected with Richard’s back, the tip scraping against bone before plunging deep into flesh and muscle.
Richard’s agonized scream pierced the air as he stumbled backward, yanking the knife from his flesh. Blood seeped up from the wound, staining his shirt a dark crimson.
Vincent wrapped his arms around Adam and yanked him backwards, hauling him off the desk. He placed a hand against Adam’s bloody chest and positioned himself between Adam and Richard, his legs wide as though he were trying to fill the space with more of himself.
Richard’s eyes blazed with fury as he flung the knife down onto the concrete. “You’ll regret that,” he snarled.
“Adam, run!” Vincent shouted.
