Tricking the Souls Read online

  After checking the hallway to make sure no one was wandering about, I led him into the bathroom, grabbing two towels out of the cabinet and setting them on the sink. I pulled him into the shower with me and blocked his body from the water until I could get it to the right temperature, but what came spraying out, wasn’t exactly what I’d expected.

  Instead of clean and clear, the water came out an eerie blood red. “What the actual fuck!” I yelled as the hideous fluid sprayed all over my face and neck, tinging my skin pink wherever it touched.

  Ryan reached around me to shut the faucet off then looked at me with wild eyes. I had no idea what I actually looked like, but I imagined it was something along the lines of the movie, Carrie.

  I wrapped a towel around my waist and stormed out of the bathroom, ready to give someone hell, but when I walked out, everyone was already in the hallway, probably wondering what all the shouting was about. They took one look at me and started laughing.

  “Yeah, real funny, you assholes. I’m all pink now! What the hell was that anyway? Actual blood?”

  Landon and Micah started laughing. “Smell your arm,” Landon said.

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Just smell your arm and tell me what it smells like,” Micah instructed.

  I raised my arm cautiously, not really sure why I should trust them. I held my wrist up in front of my nose and took a delicate sniff then I leaned in and took a deeper whiff. I looked back up at them. “Why do I smell like cherries?” I demanded, making everyone laugh.

  Micah smirked. “Oldest trick in the book. Cherry Kool-aid in the shower faucet.”

  Landon snickered at my expression. “Just run the water for a few minutes and it’ll eventually run out.”

  I growled at him which only made everyone laugh harder. “Come on, babe. Let’s go get cleaned up,” Ryan said soothingly.

  “Fine. At least someone loves me.” I shot Caleb a glare, but even he couldn’t quit chuckling.

  “Aww, don’t be like that. We love you too, Pinkie,” one of them called out from behind me.

  “Fuck you too!” I yelled back as I shut the door behind us. I could hear them laughing on the other side and the smile I’d been hiding broke free. I pointed at Ryan. “As far as they’re concerned, I think they’re assholes, and if you ever say otherwise, you’re in big trouble.”

  Ryan smiled back at me, pretending to zip his lips. “Your secrets will always be safe with me,” he vowed.

  Chapter Seven

  ISAAC

  Waves rocked the boat back and forth in a gentle, soothing motion. Someone gasped from somewhere near me, but I was too tired to open my eyes, so I drifted along for a little longer. Eventually, the waves started to get stronger, pushing and pulling the boat in a steady rhythm until I felt sure that it would tip over.

  “Oh, God,” came a groan. It sounded like Matt. Where was he? Was he sick? Did he need my help? What if he’d fallen over the side of the boat while I’d been sleeping?

  I reached out, trying to grab the side of the boat so I could pull myself up, but instead of rough wood, my hand clasped onto something soft.

  “Yes!”

  My eyes sprang open and I realized I had been dreaming. It wasn’t a boat but rather the bed beneath me that had been rocking and while Matt was in fact moaning, it was from intense pleasure, not because he was sick. It was barely light out, but there was just enough light coming through the windows for me to enjoy the beautiful scene taking place in front of me.

  Matt was stretched out on his stomach, his arms hugging his pillow. Hudson had his knees on either side of Matt’s closed legs and his thumbs held Matt’s slick crease open as his long, thick cock thrust in and out of Matt’s body. Exertion caused sweat to drip down Hudson’s thickly muscled chest, making his smooth ebony skin glisten in the pale morning light. They were beautiful together, like poetry in motion.

  Seeing the two of them caused a stirring deep in my belly and a moan escaped from me before I could stop it. Hudson stopped moving and they both looked over and smiled when they saw that I was awake.

  “Good morning, love. I’m sorry if we woke you,” Hudson whispered quietly.

  “Don’t be. I like waking up and seeing the two of you together like this,” I told them.

  Matt reached his hand out and I took it, threading our fingers together. “Hudson’s been making me feel so good, but you know what would be even better?”

  “What’s that?” I started smiling because I already knew what he was going to say.

  “If you joined us,” he said, just as I knew he would.

  It was the same for all of us. We enjoyed a little one-on-one time here and there, but nothing could compare to the magic that took place when the three of us were together. Some people struggled to understand our relationship, but for us it was as natural as breathing. The three of us fit together so seamlessly that it was hard to remember a time when I didn’t have the two of them in my life.

  As I sat up, Hudson moved so Matt could roll onto his back. Hudson quickly settled between Matt’s spread thighs, sliding his cock back inside Matt’s warmth and making Matt’s eyes roll to the back of his head.

  “Isaac!” My name sounded like a prayer on Matt’s lips and I quickly moved closer and bent down so I could kiss him as Hudson continued to rock into him.

  “What do you need?” I whispered against his mouth. His eyes fluttered open and I felt like he was looking into my soul.

  “I need you. I need you both,” he pleaded. “Sit on my face so I can taste you.”

  Lust shot to my groin, swift and fierce, nearly stealing my breath with its intensity. On shaky legs, I managed to stand up on the bed. Holding on to the headboard with one hand for support, I straddled Matt’s head. I was facing Hudson as I slowly lowered myself on to Matt’s waiting mouth and I could see the mix of longing, love and desire playing along his features.

  Matt cupped my ass with his hands, spreading me open, and exposing the most vulnerable part of me to his hungry eyes. I gasped loudly at the first flick of his wet tongue against my hole. My fingers gripped the headboard as he licked around my rim, waking the sensitive nerve endings and turning my blood into molten lava.

  From my vantage point, I was able to see perfectly as Hudson thrust deep into Matt’s body. I knew the exact pleasure Hudson’s cock was wringing out of Matt and my hole quivered with longing.

  Because he was so in tune with my body, Matt picked up on my need to be filled and he pressed forward, slipping his hot tongue inside me and making me see stars. My free hand grasped desperately at thin air, but then Hudson was there, also anticipating what I would need. He slid his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me forward, kissing me with a passion that stole the breath from my lungs. His lips were firm, and his tongue was sweet as it danced around my own.

  “Please,” I begged.

  Without losing rhythm with Matt’s body, Hudson bent down and sucked my cock into the glorious heat of his mouth, his head bobbing up and down on it. My head dropped back between my shoulders and I stared at the ceiling as sensation overtook me.

  Below me, I could hear the subtle shift in Matt’s breathing that signaled he was close, and I was glad because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on. With Hudson’s lips wrapped around my length and Matt’s tongue buried deep inside my ass, I came, possibly harder than I ever had before, spilling my seed down Hudson’s throat. Matt’s swift breath let me know he was coming at the same time.

  My head lolled forward and I forced myself to open my eyes, just in time to see Hudson pull out of Matt. He sat up on his knees and wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking furiously until he came, sending thick, white ribbons of cum all over Matt’s stomach.

  I climbed off Matt, settling down beside him as Hudson licked their cum off Matt. When he’d licked him all clean, Hudson lay on the other side of Matt and the three of us shared a languid kiss, enjoying our combined flavors as they mingled togeth
er on our tongues.

  We stayed in bed, quietly whispering and constantly touching until we heard the others starting to move around. A shriek had us all scrambling out of bed and we raced out into the hallway in only the underwear we’d quickly pulled on. Akio was leaning with his back against the wall and his hand over his heart. Morgan walked out of the bathroom carrying a long rubber snake.

  “It’s okay. It’s not real, honey,” he assured his husband.

  Akio shook his head, refusing to open his eyes. “I don’t care, just please, get it out of here.” With a chuckle, we returned to our room.

  “As much as I’m going to miss this place, I can’t wait to get back to the center and all of the kids,” I told them.

  “Yeah, it’s been fun, but I’ve missed them,” Hudson admitted.

  Matt eyed both of us. “I certainly won’t miss all the tricks that have been pulled this week. I’m not sure how much more my heart can take.” Hudson and I laughed at the exasperated look on his face.

  We took turns in the shower and got dressed then finished packing our bags and walked them outside. Matt and I waited as Hudson pressed the button on his key fob and the hatch slowly began to lift. Just as I was about to step forward, something, or rather someone in a black suit and Scream mask jumped out of the back of the SUV, scaring the shit out of the three of us.

  I scrambled backwards, landing on my ass as the person behind the mask began to laugh. Hudson reached for the mask, yanking it off the person’s head, revealing Morgan underneath.

  “Oh, God, your faces! That was too funny. Now I can see why everyone enjoys doing this so much,” he said in between bouts of hysteria.

  Akio walked over and stood beside his husband. “You know, I wasn’t too sure about this. Especially after that whole snake thing earlier, but I have to admit, scaring the three of you was more than a little bit fun.”

  I shook my head sadly. “And here I thought you were the nice one.”

  Akio laughed. “I have no idea what gave you that impression.”

  “Just so you know, I no longer feel bad about putting the snake in the bathtub,” I told him smugly.

  Akio gasped. “I knew it was you.” We were still laughing as the two of them turned to go back to the house.

  It was dinnertime by the time we made it back to Chicago and pulled into Kathy and Rick Greene’s driveway. As tired as we were, we were also starving. Thankfully, Kathy had called during our drive home and suggested we all come to their house for dinner, probably realizing none of us would have any food at our houses after being away for a week.

  Sounds of children’s laughter filled the air as we stepped into the house and then suddenly there were loud shrieks as they all realized their parents were home. Rick had even driven to Rylie and Lachlan’s house to pick up Dylan and Max so they could have dinner with their dads.

  After everyone had been properly welcomed home with hugs and kisses, Kathy ushered us all into the dining room. The children talked excitedly about all the fun things they’d done with their grandparents and Max filled his parents in on the things he and his brother had done with Kerry and Benjamin.

  As they continued talking, Kathy leaned over and spoke to the three of us. “I knew the kids at the center would be missing you this week, so I spent a little extra time there. What you’ve done with them, with that whole place is nothing short of remarkable. I just thought you should know,” she said kindly.

  I reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you for taking care of our kids too.” I hoped she could tell how much it had meant to me and my husbands.

  She squeezed my hand back. “We’re family, it’s what we do.”

  Her simple, yet meaningful statement warmed my heart and I looked at Matt and Hudson, pleased to see that they were as touched as I was.

  When the kids had finished eating, they scurried off to go play, all except Dylan who chose to remain at the table with the adults and Joseph and Marcus who were still too little to play with their cousins. Instead, they were each held by one of their grandparents, soaking up the last few minutes of snuggles before they would go home.

  “So, did you all have fun?” Rick asked.

  “We did,” Landon responded. “Being back at the cabin was great and we even discovered some new things to do there in the fall.”

  “Oh, I bet it was beautiful with the leaves changing colors. What did you do?” Kathy asked.

  “We went four-wheeling, had a paintball war, watched scary movies, and went to a pumpkin festival where we got to launch pumpkins off a catapult and watch them smash everywhere,” Carter told them excitedly.

  Kathy smiled. “Wow, sounds like you guys were pretty busy.”

  “Yeah, and we haven’t even told you about the tricks yet,” Ryan said.

  “What tricks?” Rick asked.

  Micah ticked each trick off on his fingers as he explained. “Let’s see, Caleb and Gio fooled us into eating chocolate covered brussel sprouts and onions disguised as caramel apples. Rylie and Lachlan decided to scare us with chainsaws in the middle of a scary movie one night. Landon and I treated Carter to a Kool-Aid shower which made him smell delicious and turned his skin a lovely shade of pink. Carter and Ryan stuck pictures of all of us in jars so that they looked like pickled heads and put them inside the refrigerator. Hudson, Isaac, and Matt snuck a rubber snake into the shower which nearly gave Akio a heart attack, but then Akio and Morgan got even when Morgan put on a mask and hid inside their car until they went to put their suitcases in this morning and he jumped out at them.”

  Kathy and Rick laughed. “What in the world made you guys decide to pull all these tricks on each other?”

  “The first night we were there, someone decided to mess with our cars. No one would confess, so we decided the only fair thing to do was to have an all-out battle and see who could out-trick the tricksters,” I told them.

  Kathy was laughing so hard she had tears rolling down her cheeks. Rick looked at her. “This turned out even better than we’d hoped.” I looked around at the other guys, who were all sharing the same puzzled expression that I was.

  “What are you talking about? What’s so funny?” Caleb asked.

  Kathy used a napkin to wipe her tears then looked at her son. “Oh, sweetheart. You all thought you were out-tricking the tricksters, but you couldn’t because the original tricksters were right here.”

  Landon’s jaw dropped open along with the rest of ours. “What? But...how? You were here with the kids.”

  Rick spoke up. “Oh, that was easy. All we had to do was come up with the idea and then contact my friend Troy Darnell who lives just down the road from the cabin. He always loved you kids and was excited that you were coming back for a week. He was all too happy to help us out with our plan.”

  Carter shook his head. “I can’t believe our parents were able to pull a trick on us, and none of us even suspected.”

  “Don’t feel bad. Not everyone can be masters at pulling tricks like we are,” Kathy told him as she lifted little Marcus in her arms and kissed his cheek then looked back at her son. “But, if you let us keep these little sweeties again next year, you guys can keep practicing.”

  As we all glanced around the table at each other, we began to smile. Turning the Greene family cabin into an annual fall retreat sounded like the perfect plan to us.

  THE END

  Acknowledgments

  As always, my first thanks go to my family. My husband, you are the love of my life and the reason I am able to write about love because you show me how much you love me every single day, in a million different ways. My children, you both have shown a strength of spirit that I can only hope to one day possess. You amaze me, inspire me and I am so proud to call you mine.

  Thank you to Deena for always knowing when to make me laugh, when I need an escape and when to simply listen. I am so grateful to have you in my life and I love you.

  Thank you to Jenn for always being by my side through thick
and thin. No matter what life throws at us, you are always my constant. I love you and IWACY!

  Thank you to my team: My editor: Allison Holzapfel, my cover artist: Jay Aheer, my formatter: Luna David and my incredible betas; Jenn Gibson, Lee Rey, Meredith King, Lori Greis, Luna David, Anita Ford, and Temberley Waters. You have shown me more patience, support, encouragement and enthusiasm than I could ever repay you for. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

  About the Author

  I am married to my high school sweetheart who let’s face it, is a saint for putting up with me all of these years. Together we have been blessed with the chance to raise two amazing human beings and so far, we haven’t screwed it up; I’ll let you know for sure later. I love watching movies, cooking, going to the beach and spending time with my family and best friends. I am an obsessive reader who is a complete sucker for a good love story but loves to feel a broad range of emotions throughout a book. I think real life is hard enough and so my books offer twists and turns, but always with a happy ending.

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