Free Northern Exposure: Compass Brothers, Book 1 by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon

sustained wrung her stomach. “Should I grab some fresh bandages?”
    “Yeah, he’s pretty tore up. That’s not what I’m talking about, though.”
    Silas met her gaze. He stared, offering no input. Close enough to kiss him, she watched him lick the last of the water droplets from his cracked lips. She opened a tube of balm she’d laid by the bed, part of her standard patient kit, and swirled some onto her finger. She’d applied the silky gel to many people in her career. None of them had made it seem like a dirty act. Tracing Silas’s parted mouth inspired her to flush then avert her eyes.
    They weren’t ready yet.
    Lucy forced herself to retreat, at least far enough to carefully straddle him as she crossed to his other side. Examining him from beneath Colby’s supportive hold would prove impossible. She gasped when something hard and long brushed her thigh. “You’re supposed to be sick.”
    “I’d have to be dead not to get a rise in my Levi’s with you in my lap.”
    “Amen.” Colby chuckled from where he kept Silas upright. “Except you’re not wearing any pants, big guy. There’s some serious crackage happening back here.”
    “I think I’m skipping down the yellow brick road in Oz about now. It looks like I’m on Compass Ranch, but I really cracked my skull in that explosion and I’m lying on the rig while the world burns around me.”
    “God, Si.” Lucy couldn’t stop herself from hugging him. She wrapped herself lightly around his torso and visualized absorbing his pain. Her touch seemed to break him from the memories assaulting him, at least long enough for him to make a joke.
    “Any minute now flying monkeys are going to zoom past that fucking window. Keep the crazy lady on the bike away from me, okay? She gives me the willies.”
    “Is it impossible to believe you’re home?” Lucy stroked his fuzzy cheek.
    “It’s either that or you’re all insane. Most husbands wouldn’t find it amusing when some random guy wants to fuck his wife.”
    “I’m not most husbands. And you’re not any guy.”
    “That probably makes this worse.” Silas arched his hips, grinding himself against Lucy’s mound. She thought she might come on the spot. He desired her!
    Relief poised her on the verge of tears and had naughty ideas screaming for attention.
    Lucy scrambled to the other side of her patient before she landed them all in trouble. If he needed medical attention, that had to come first. They could figure out the rest later. It was enough that attraction zinged through him too.
    When she spied what her husband stared at, she gasped. “Oh, my God.”
    “Is it ruined?” Silas’s frame heaved with the disappointment he couldn’t suppress, shifting the image decorating his strong flesh. “Is Snake still around? Maybe he can fix it up for me.”
    “Hell, no. I mean, Snake’s still kicking but…” Colby murmured reverently, “it’s fucking great. Perfect. I wish I’d thought of it.”
    Lucy couldn’t stop herself. She traced the compass spanning his shoulders with her index finger. “It’s crazy, Si. There are slices, yellowed bruises, half-healed blisters and scrapes all around it. But nothing touched the tattoo. Not one single thing harmed it.”
    “Maybe Mom is right.”
    “Isn’t she always?” Colby ducked down for a better look. “What is that, there, between the cattle brand and the barn? I see something in the shadows.”
    “No one’s ever noticed before.” Silas groaned. “Not even my brothers.”
    “It’s your name, Colby.” Lucy bent forward to kiss the patch of skin, honoring the bond that had driven Si to carry her husband with him always. She’d known the instant she witnessed their embrace in the barn, they were meant for each other.
    “Holy crap. You’re right. It is.” Colby’s shock might have been funny if the significance of the moment didn’t ripple through their entire lives. “And yours.”
    “What?” She followed the direction of her