Read Online Northern Exposure: Compass Brothers, Book 1 by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon - Free Book Online Page B

rights. Be true to yourself. Make me proud, Silas.”
    “I’m working on it.” He sighed. “I don’t blame you for not believing me, but it’s what I always tried to do.”
    “Foolish boy.” Her warm tone betrayed the true feelings behind her criticism. “Don’t struggle so hard. The solution is easy if you let it be. Listen to your heart.”
    Vicky rested her palm on her son’s bare chest before nodding then leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.
    No one moved.
    No one spoke.
    Lucy couldn’t swear she breathed.
    Colby acted first. He pried her white-knuckled fingers from the arms of her chair then helped her stand. Together they walked, side by side, toward the bed. Toward Silas.
    The puffy slashes of fresh scars marring his skin threatened to distract her. He seemed so pale. Whether his injuries or his time hidden from the sun had leeched his color she couldn’t tell. It made him appear cold. So did his tight nipples, which stood proud above the line of the sheet. The bright cotton cover obscured the lower half of his body from her wandering gaze.
    He hadn’t shaved in forever. The scruffiness worked for him. Still, she couldn’t wait for him to reveal his strong jaw and the other hints of masculinity he’d grown into well.
    “Christ, you’re so beautiful. More than I guessed, Lu.”
    When his compliment knocked her off balance, he covered the gap.
    “Are you going to yell at me too?” The mischievous grin she recognized from their childhood made an appearance even if it seemed a little rusty.
    “Not exactly what I had in mind.” Colby answered for them both. He scrubbed his hands through his sun-bleached hair then cursed. “Hell if I know where to go from here, though.”
    Lucy opened her mouth to make a suggestion. Silas interrupted. “Can I ask you something first?”
    She nodded.
    “Are you happy, Lu?” He tilted his head when her eyes narrowed. “I mean, really happy. And Colby too. Please promise me those lonely nights were worth it.”
    “Jesus, dickhead.” Colby filled in when no sound would pass the knot in her throat. “Did you listen to one word Vicky said?”
    “Yeah, she told me to follow my heart.” Silas’s rugged face, stressed by years of hard living—and, if she wasn’t mistaken, dented by the subtle unevenness caused by patches of frostbite—expressed his genuine interest. “All it’s ever wanted was to protect you. Both of you. To preserve your happiness.”
    Lucy exchanged a look with her husband, enough to convey more than an entire conversation between most people. Colby nodded.
    “Clearly, you didn’t read a single one of my letters.” Lucy plopped onto the mattress when her knees buckled. “Wow, that’s probably a solid three months of my life wasted.”
    Maybe they’d deluded themselves all this time. Had Silas departed without a glance over his shoulder? Had his nobility supplied a convenient excuse? She scooted toward the edge, prepared to leave and reevaluate the situation, when his hand braceleted her wrist.
    His hold sent electricity through her core.
    “I couldn’t.” He coughed after the rush of air he’d expelled, his lungs still not fully recovered. When the fit extended, Silas’s face flushing an unhealthy shade of purple, she reached for the pitcher of water beside the bed.
    Colby wrapped his arm around Silas’s shoulders then tipped their lost friend forward until she could touch the cup she held to his lips. He didn’t drink for a moment, as though his pride rebelled at needing help to accomplish something so simple. Eventually, he accepted her offering.
    The cool liquid soothed Silas. Lucy expected her husband to lower the man to the mountain of pillows arranged behind him. Instead, he stared at the expanse of their friend’s back.
    “You should see this, Lu.”
    “Does he have more cuts and burns there?” She nibbled her lip. Nurses couldn’t be squeamish. She usually wasn’t, but the extensive damage Silas had