Tricking the Souls

by Annabella Michaels

  “Not if I get to them first,” Hudson said.

  “Now, is that any way to be? I thought therapists weren’t supposed to promote violence,” I joked, still laughing.

  “We’re not, but I’m willing to make an exception for you,” he responded. Even with those words, I could see the amusement in his eyes.

  “I’d like to tell you all that I’m terribly sorry for scaring you,” Lachlan began. “But I’m afraid it would be a lie. Your reactions were just too funny.”

  “That’s okay, you’ll get yours,” Carter assured me with what could only be described as an evil grin.

  “Ah, baby, you protected me.” Everyone turned to Landon who was staring at his husband incredulously.

  Micah stared back at him. “Yeah?”

  “No, I mean seriously. You saw there was danger and you protected my body with your own,” Landon insisted.

  Micah shrugged. “You already know that I would. I’ve told you a million times,” he answered like it was no big deal.

  “Yeah, but I thought that was just something you said to show your love. I didn’t think you actually meant sacrificing your life for mine.” Landon shook his head in awe. “Come on,” he said grabbing Micah’s hand and pulling him off the couch.

  “Where are we going?” Micah’s forehead wrinkled in concern over his husband’s behavior.

  Landon looked back and gave him a saucy wink. “We’re going up to our room because you, sir, are about to get very lucky.”

  Micah’s frown immediately switched over to a wide smile. “Later, boys. I’m going to my room now,” he announced happily. “To have sex with your brother,” he added in a stage whisper as he passed Caleb.

  Caleb immediately dropped to the couch, holding his ears and wailing, “Please, make it stop. Oh, God, whyyy?” Damn, I love these guys.

  Laughing, I carried the chainsaws out to the shed and put them away. As I walked back inside, I heard a shout that sounded suspiciously like my husband and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I took off at a dead run toward the sound and found Lachlan standing in the kitchen, with the refrigerator door wide open. He was staring inside it and looking like he was going to be sick.

  I raced to his side, laying a comforting hand on his back and then turned to see what had frightened him. There, along the shelves, were row upon row of glass jars and inside each one was a picture of one of our friends’ faces, including our own two, inside some sort of green fluid.

  At first glance, they looked so realistic that if I hadn’t known better, I would’ve sworn that our heads had been severed and placed in a jar. It sent a ripple of fear up my spine and I could understand why it had taken Lachlan by surprise.

  Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned to find Ryan and Carter standing in the doorway. My shoulders slumped as I took in their amused and rather proud expressions.

  “This was your handiwork?” I asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

  Carter shrugged. “You totally deserved it. Sleep well,” he called out over his shoulder as he and Ryan left the room.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  Lachlan gave me a smile, but it was shaky. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

  “I agree. Let’s go to our room and I’ll see if I can’t relax you enough to help you sleep.” Lachlan’s smile grew as I took his hand and led him upstairs.

  Chapter Six

  CARTER

  “You’ve barely touched your eggs. Are you feeling all right?” Isaac asked in concern.

  “I’m fine, it’s just a little difficult to eat with those things staring at me,” Matt answered weakly as he pointed over at the jars of faces that were lined up along the counter.

  I snickered as I shoved another bite of food into my mouth. “Well, you’d better find a way to eat something. You’re going to need your strength today.”

  “A game of war,” Micah said gleefully. “Right up my alley and the perfect way to get even for any wrongdoings.” He arched a brow in Rylie and Lachlan’s direction.

  “Wrongdoings? It seems to me like our little trick paid off for you just fine, in the long run,” Rylie teased.

  Caleb groaned. “Please, don’t remind me when I’m trying to eat.” The pained look on his face had us all laughing.

  Gio checked his watch. “We’d better get a move on, or we’re going to be late.”

  With his announcement, we all got up and quickly cleaned up the kitchen before heading out the door. We’d all been looking forward to this activity and didn’t want to miss it.

  Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the paintball field. “All right troops, gather around,” Micah called out sternly.

  I raised my eyebrows at my older brother, but Landon just shook his head. “Yeah, he takes this kind of stuff a little seriously. I find that it’s easier if I just go along with it.”

  “Okay, listen up. We’re going to have two teams. Since I have the most combat experience...well, the only combat experience in our group, I think I should be one of the captains. Who else would like to volunteer?” His eyes traveled around our small circle. “No one? Seriously?”

  “Well, no one really wants to be on the other team when your team is probably going to win,” Caleb replied soundly.

  Gio held up a finger. “Now, that’s not necessarily true. I may not have been in the military, but Micah and I used to play war all the time when we were kids and I’d say our wins were about even.”

  “Yesss!” Caleb hissed. “That’s my man.”

  Gio laughed. “Okay, I volunteer to be captain.”

  “Good. Now that we have the captains, Gio and I will take turns picking our teams,” Micah explained. His arms were locked together behind his back, feet planted firmly apart as his eyes moved over us in an assessing manner.

  “I hope I get picked to be on Gio’s team. I don’t think I want to play with Scary Spice over there,” Ryan said low enough that no one else would hear.

  I had to bite down on my lip to keep from laughing, but I could feel my shoulders shaking and I half expected Micah to see it and order me to drop and give him twenty push-ups. The thing was, none of us had ever seen Micah in action before, so we weren’t sure how much of his behavior was real and how much he was pulling our legs. I would’ve placed my money on the latter.

  “To show you what a nice guy I am, I’ll let you choose first and I’ll even let your team have an extra player,” Micah offered politely.

  “No, I insist, you go first.”

  Micah nodded. “All right. I choose Landon. Now, it’s your turn.”

  “Why, thank you. In that case, I choose Caleb,” Gio announced, unsurprisingly.

  Gio’s eyes narrowed. “Morgan.”

  “Hudson.”

  They continued down the line, picking their teammates as carefully as possible. Fortunately, Ryan and I ended up on the same team. Finally, it came down to just two players; Akio and Isaac.

  “I told you your team could have the extra player, so they’re both yours,” Micah said.

  “This is sadly reminiscent of my experience in high school gym class,” Akio deadpanned.

  Isaac sighed. “At least both of us went at the same time so, technically, neither one of us were chosen last.”

  With teams sorted out, we went inside so we could pick out our equipment. Once we were each decked out in the proper equipment of body armor, safety goggles, and paintball guns and had each been given a hopper full of paintballs, we walked outside to the edge of the game field.

  Gio and Micah each rounded their teams up into a huddle so they could talk strategy. Gio’s entire plan centered around trying to take Micah out first; a solid plan if you had a skilled team. But looking around at our green team, which was made up of Caleb, Morgan, Ryan, Akio, Isaac, Gio and myself, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to pull it off.

  The buzzer sounded, indicating it was time to play and we all rushed onto the field, hurrying to r
each the safety of cover before we could be shot. I ran next to Ryan, my gun raised and ready to shoot if anyone tried to take him out. He darted behind a stack of old tires and I followed, diving behind the barrier just as a paintball whizzed past my ear.

  “That was a little too close,” I gasped.

  “Thanks for watching my back,” Ryan said.

  I winked at him. “No problem. You know how much I like watching your back, and your front too for that matter.” I licked my lips as I continued to leer at him.

  He shook his head and laughed. “You’re a dork, but you’re my dork.”

  “Always,” I replied. I slid my hand behind his neck and pulled him in for a quick kiss, growling with frustration when our goggles clashed against each other, making it impossible. I pointed a finger at him. “I’m claiming that kiss as soon as we’re done, you hear me?”

  “I look forward to it,” Ryan responded with a wink.

  “Come on, men. We can’t let them get the jump on us!” Gio shouted.

  I peeked out from behind our hiding spot and saw Micah’s team moving further into the arena and heading straight for a small building that had a stack of wooden pallets on top of it. I could see why Gio was concerned. If even one of them made it to the top of that building, they’d be able to hide behind the pallets and pick us off one at a time. Basically, we would be sitting ducks.

  “Micah is one crafty son of a bitch.” Ryan let out a low whistle, obviously impressed.

  “We need to stop them, babe. Let’s move out.”

  We took off at a dead run, trying to catch up to them, when suddenly Ryan gasped beside me. I turned to look at him, the expression on his face one of disbelief. In the center of his chest was a bright yellow splash of paint.

  With a furious roar, I spun around and fired my gun. I watched as green exploded all over Hudson’s shoulder, splattering his face and neck, smiling with the kind of satisfaction that could only come from avenging my lover.

  Ryan and Hudson raised a hand in the air to let other players know they were out, and I saw them shaking hands as they walked off the field. As sad as I was to see Ryan go, I still had a job to do, so I took off running again, being more watchful of my surroundings as I went.

  As I started to catch up to the rest of my team, I saw Caleb and Rylie walking off the field with their hands in the air. By my calculations, their team still had Micah, Lachlan, Matt and Landon while our team had five active members.

  I spotted a pair of legs sticking out from behind a bunker and I crept closer, moving quietly and hoping to determine who it was before I shot or got shot by a member of my own team. I’d never hear the end of it from my friends if I was taken out by friendly fire.

  Dropping to my belly, I Army crawled through the dirt until I was close enough to see that the person was Lachlan. With only a touch of remorse, I fired. Lachlan’s eyes met mine, a look of betrayal evident on his face.

  “It’s nothing personal, boss,” I explained.

  “Yes, and neither is your contract the next time it’s up for renewal,” he warned. He flashed me an evil smile as he raised a hand and walked off the field.

  I watched him walk away, but I wasn’t too worried. After all, his husband’s contract was almost the exact same as mine. He couldn’t do anything too terrible to me without earning Rylie’s wrath as well.

  With my attention back on the game, I moved on. I could see Gio closing in on Landon, but I couldn’t spot Matt or Micah anywhere. Just then, Matt jumped out from behind a pile of wood and shot Morgan in the leg. As Morgan stumbled off the field, I took aim, sending a bright green blob of paint all over Matt’s stomach.

  “Nice one,” he said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked by.

  Movement from somewhere above caused me to look up and I saw, much to my horror, Micah standing on top of the building, his gun aimed right at my captain.

  “Gio!” I shouted a warning, but it was too late. Yellow paint sprayed all over Gio’s chest. I swung my gun into position, but before I could even fire a shot, I got hit. I looked down at the yellow paint dripping off my arm then back at Micah who saluted me.

  “Smug bastard.”

  I walked off the field and sat down in the grass next to Ryan and the others. He offered me a bottle of water and I took a long drink then I set it aside, ripped my goggles off my face, and planted the biggest kiss on my husband’s lips. His warm breath brushed across my cheek as he laughed.

  “What was that for?”

  “Because I said I would, and because I can, and because I don’t ever want you to leave me even if it’s just for pretend,” I whispered.

  Ryan’s eyes softened as he looked at me. “You don’t ever have to worry about that. I belong wherever you are, and I don’t ever want to be anywhere else.” We smiled at each other for a moment but then a loud gasp caught our attention. I looked to Morgan who was staring out across the field.

  “What the hell?” Ryan said under his breath.

  At first, I only saw Micah standing on top of the building, staring down the barrel of his gun at something on the ground. My eyes followed the direction of where he was looking and I gasped too when I saw Isaac, standing behind Landon, his arm crossed over my brother’s chest as he pointed a gun at him.

  “Give it up, Micah, or I’ll do it. I’ll shoot him right here in front of you,” Isaac shouted boldly.

  Everyone held their breath as we watched the showdown. I could see the struggle on Micah’s face. I was sure he wanted to win this battle, but I was also certain that every one of his instincts would be screaming at him to protect the man he loved.

  “Don’t listen to him, Micah. He won’t do it, just take the shot,” Landon pleaded.

  An alarm sounded and my eyes darted over to the timeclock. Less than thirty seconds left. Micah was going to have to make a decision or risk ending the game at a draw.

  Just as Micah began to lower his gun, Akio jumped out from behind a barrel and shot him. In the blink of an eye Isaac also shot Landon, winning the game. A second later, the buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the game.

  Both teams rushed onto the field to congratulate them and Micah climbed down from his platform. His face was unreadable as he approached the two men and everyone grew quiet, waiting to see what he would do. It couldn’t be easy to stand up to a Navy SEAL, particularly one that you had just threatened, but I had to hand it to Isaac and Akio, they held their ground as they faced him.

  A smile started to spread across Micah’s face. “I underestimated the two of you, which was ultimately, my downfall. Well played.” They beamed as he shook each of their hands and then he wrapped his arm around Landon and walked away as our team lifted the two men who’d won the game for us and carried them off the field on our shoulders.

  Back at the cabin, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner where we relived the game and then my team taunted the losers as they washed our dishes. We were all too tired and banged up to do much of anything else, so we all headed off to our individual rooms.

  “I had fun today,” Ryan said as he stripped out of his clothes. I ogled his body but winced when I saw the slight discoloration in the center of his chest from where the paintball had hit him.

  I reached out and ran my fingers over it gently. “Does it hurt?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Not too bad.”

  “Would it help if I kissed it and made it better?”

  “Oh, definitely,” he breathed.

  “Get on the bed,” I told him.

  “I should probably shower first,” he hedged.

  I grinned. “You won’t have to for what I have in mind. Besides, we’re just going to get even dirtier.”

  Ryan’s eyes darkened at my words. I made quick work of removing my clothes as he got settled and then joined him on the bed. He smiled as I held myself above him, his fingertips traveling up and down my back, sending a wave of goosebumps across my flesh.

  “How is it that you get more beautiful every single day?” he
whispered.

  Warmth spread through me at the love shining in his eyes. “You’re the only one who thinks that.”

  Ryan gave me an incredulous look. “Have you not met your fans?”

  I bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his bruised chest. “But your opinion is the only one that matters to me,” I answered simply.

  “Come here,” he growled.

  I smiled as I slid back up, knowing what was coming. Ryan didn’t disappoint as he grabbed the sides of my face and took me in a blistering kiss, one that left my lungs burning and my head spinning when it was over.

  We both gasped as I lowered my body, lining up our cocks so they brushed against each other. Ryan’s breath was hot as he panted against my lips. I circled my hips in a slow, tantalizing motion, watching the storm brewing in his eyes. My movements became faster and choppier as my orgasm began to build and Ryan raised his hips, meeting me in the middle and helping us along.

  “God, you feel so good, baby,” he huffed.

  Tilting my hips, I ground against him, both of our cocks leaking onto the other. “This is going to be quick,” I warned.

  “For me too. I’m already so—” I could see the moment his orgasm rolled through him and I bent down, covering his mouth with mine and swallowing his deep moans.

  I followed, just seconds behind. Fire spread throughout my body and lights flashed behind my closed eyelids. With gasping breath, I collapsed on top of him, smearing the sticky mess between us, but I didn’t care. There was no better place on earth, than in his arms.

  “Now, we really need a shower,” he pointed out once we’d both caught our breath.

  “Too bad. Can’t move.”

  Ryan laughed. “Do I need to carry you in a fireman’s hold to the bathroom?”

  I peeked up at him. “Usually, I’d be quick to take you up on that offer, but right now, I think you might be battered worse than I am. Come on, I’ll help you up,” I said as I climbed out of bed and held a hand out to him.

  He clenched his jaw as he sat up, a clear indicator that he was hurting worse than he’d let on. “That’s what I figured,” I muttered.