Northern Exposure: Compass Brothers, Book 1 (9 page)

“Are Seth, Sam and Sawyer online?” He checked the clock. With the wide variety in their time zones, it was rare they all were available to gather together for a quick conversation. They managed it when they could.

“I guess. Seth called. He said something about a web whatsit.”

Silas barked a laugh. He’d done more of that in the last twenty-four hours than the past several years. “If you hand me my laptop, I’ll show you.”

Vicky passed him the computer then kissed his cheek while he got things up and running. “You’re looking better already.”

“Thanks. For everything.” He smiled at his mother, unsure of what more to say. She understood anyway.

“Would you mind cracking the window?” He craved the fresh air he’d sampled yesterday and the sounds of the country at night. The cool breeze would help mitigate the raging inferno in his belly, ignited by the hundreds of letters he’d read today.

“Have you forgotten how chilly it is at night?”

“Are you kidding? Hell, most of the drafty places I stayed in were colder in the middle of a summer day.”

She winced but didn’t argue. Instead, she shrugged and did as he asked.

Silas logged on to the web conferencing service Sam used for business. In the late evening, Eastern Time, no one in the New York office minded them hopping on the line. Hard to believe his little brother had become a powerful stock analyst on Wall Street. Silas cracked up he heard they called him The Cowboy.

A series of three dings proved Seth, Sam and Sawyer waited for him to join. He selected their names from the list onscreen then entered the conference.

“You should have seen them. Smoking hot quadruplets, Sam.” Silas’s brother out west bragged to his twin. “Two for you, two for me.”

“Sawyer Compton, what kind of trouble are you digging up now?” Vicky laughed at the horror on her youngest son’s face.

“Dude, a little warning would have been nice before you tossed Mom on the line.” To see the Coastie blush made Silas’s day.

Four pictures divided his screen. He’d placed the images of his brothers as they were situated around the country. His window on top. Sawyer—in San Francisco—on the left, Sam—in New York—on the right and Seth—in Texas—at the bottom.

“Hello, my sons.” Vicky tried a finger wave, giggling at the reflection of herself on the screen.

“Hi, Mom.” Funny how the appearance of one small woman could change them all in an instant.

“All right, I can tell I’m crashing this party. Just had to see my boys a second. Have fun and call me soon. I love you.”

A chorus of “Love you too” echoed through the crappy, built-in speakers.

As soon as the door shut, Silas announced. “Okay, she’s out.”

“How much of that did she hear?” Sawyer adjusted his uniform. He must be on a dinner break.

“Obviously I missed a good story. Nothing but the last few words came across. You’re clear.”

“Holy shit, I almost had a heart attack.”

“Her and JD aren’t exactly prudes.” Seth—kicked back in jeans and no shirt with a beer in hand after a long hard day—supplied some dirt. “I heard from Jim Spade they tore it up in the day. Plus, remember the time Sam walked in on them in the kitchen?”

“Gross. I could have gone my whole life without thinking about that again, fuckwad.” Sam rolled the sleeves on his expensive shirt to his elbows. Knowing him, he’d planned to head out soon to wine and dine some sophisticate at a restaurant so exclusive, Silas could only imagine what it’d be like.

He’d probably hate it.

“Moving on…” Seth grinned. “How the hell are you, bro? Surly as ever, I guess. The mountain man beard is a nice touch.”

“Better today than yesterday.” Silas noted the real concern beneath the teasing. As the oldest brother, he’d always been the one to look after them, not the other way around. “Can’t wait to climb out of this bed. Maybe take Rainey for a ride.”

“Why not stay there? Give Lucy a go, instead. Hell of a lot more fun than a middle-aged horse.” Sam laughed at his crass joke. No one else did. “Oh, fuck. Too soon?”

“Moron.” Seth shook his head.

Silas growled. “Don’t talk about her like that. She’s married.”

Not that he hadn’t thought the same thing himself a time or two today.

“To a man who’s as hot for you as she is.” Sawyer didn’t zip his big mouth despite the glare from Seth. “How long are we gonna pretend we don’t notice them begging for scraps of information from us? How many times are we gonna let Silas fuck things up? One of these days it’ll be too late. If I had that kind of love in my life, I sure as shit wouldn’t waste it.”

“It doesn’t freak you guys out? The whole Colby thing?” Silas had struggled with sharing his bisexuality with his brothers for years. Could it be that easy?

“I don’t care to hear the play by play, but who you fuck is your business.” Seth acted as the spokesperson. The twins nodded agreement. “If I can stand to listen to Sawyer go on about his whips and chains, I think I can handle you getting moony over a guy we all respect.”

“I think it’s kind of hot.” Sawyer shrugged. They all knew of his penchant for BDSM. Power games appealed to their youngest brother. “Not my thing exactly, but I can see how having another guy submit would be a turn on. Don’t act like you’ve never shared a woman with another dude, Sam. You have. And you liked it.”

“Sawyer—”

“No, the kid’s right.” Silas shrugged when all three of his brothers stared, speechless. “I’ve done a lot of thinking lately. More today.”

He grabbed a handful of crumpled envelopes and let them rain around him. “I won’t hide who I am anymore.”

“You read her letters.” Sam’s eyes went as big as silver dollars.

“Holy shit.” Seth dropped his feet off his desk, leaning closer to his monitor for to better inspect the background. “They’re everywhere.”

“What was in them?” Sawyer had always been curious. “I can’t tell you how many Christmases, Thanksgivings and nights I spent on leave that I’d watch little Lucy huddled with a pad and a pen, writing like mad. She never gave me a peek, though. What did she write you?”

“Everything.” Silas grimaced when his voice cracked a bit. “It’s the best gift I could have imagined. A time machine. Every bit of the ten years I missed, it’s all here. There were even some pictures.”

He held up a few snapshots for his brothers to check out.

“Ohhh, did she include good bits too?” Sam wiggled his brows. “Nasty stuff?”

Silas chose not to inform his brothers of the detailed account of the night Colby had taken Lucy’s virginity. Or the night he’d proposed. Silas figured if he kept reading straight through to tomorrow he might find their wedding night in the heartfelt notes she’d kept as religiously as a diary.

“Damn! She
did
write about that stuff. Look at his face.”

Before Silas could make them fuck off, a distraction deflected the heat from his revelation.

A sassy voice called out from somewhere, “Tell your brothers it’s not nice to kiss and tell. Well, I suppose this Lucy did, but sharing a note with a lover is different than tossing those fantasies to a pack of rabid, ungrateful, fickle cowboys.”

“Who the hell was that?” Sawyer jumped at the rebuke.

“Only the cowgirl your fucking asshole brother is keeping prisoner in this godforsaken shack. Will someone please call 911?”

Seth grinned into the camera before tossing over his shoulder, “Don’t make me gag you, darlin’.”

“Holy shit.” Sam leaned closer to the camera. “What is that in the background? Do I see pretty ankles tied to the end of your bed, Seth?”

“I’m Jody Kirkland! My dad is your brother’s boss. He’ll probably also be the man to murder this piece of shit, arrogant, limp dick when he finds out what he’s up to.”

“I’ll give you arrogant, but I’m guessing Seth’s anything but a limp dick right now, honey.” Sam braved his brother’s wrath.

Silas agreed. A woman that spirited would be worth a black eye or two.

“Argh! You’re all alike. I can’t believe there are really
four
of you. Thank God you spread yourselves out. No state should have to house that many Compass brothers. Especially if you’re all as dense as Seth.”

“I like this girl.” Sawyer grinned in response.

“So, you’re calling the police?” The legs thrashed at the corner of the mattress.

“I don’t think my mom would appreciate Seth missing out on the next ten Christmases because he’s in jail.” Sawyer winked at his brothers. “Sorry, honey. I bet he could help you make the most of the situation.”

“You’re all bastards. Every one of you asshats!”

“Jody. Give me two minutes. Then we’ll talk, okay?” Seth’s exasperated groan spoke volumes. Silas didn’t try to hide his enjoyment of his brother’s frustration. At least he wasn’t the only one who did stupid shit when his guts were in a knot. “Si, I swear I thought I’d crapped my pants when they told me you’d almost blown up. So I’m going to say this flat out. I know you’re still on the mend but ignoring what Lucy and Colby are offering would be ridiculous.”

“Says the man talking to his brothers instead of playing with the sexy woman tied to his bed, about to escape.”

Silas enjoyed the hell out of the surprise on his brother’s face. Sam and Sawyer showed their appreciation with whistles and catcalls.

“What!” Seth spun in his chair. When he spotted Jody—naked, in the camera’s line of sight as she undid the last of the knots—he lost it. He snagged a blanket off the foot of his bed then wrapped it around her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Leaving, moron!” She thrashed in Seth’s embrace until his brother hefted her over his shoulder, bundled in the blanket.

“Okay, as fun as this is, I have to be on deck in five minutes.” Sawyer grimaced. “Someone better fill me in later.”

“No, there will be no filling in!” Seth marched to the camera, blocking it with his palm. “I have to go, Si. We’ll talk more. Soon.”

His connection terminated with a generic beep, leaving Sam and Silas alone on the line. They looked at each other and laughed.

“Almost time for me to hit the city, bro.” Sam stretched, taking his suit coat from a hanger behind him.

“Hot date?”

“Sort of. Been spending some time with a girl I work with.” His grimace promised it could spell disaster. “I think she’s worth the risk.”

“Trust your gut, Sam. I should have done the same a long time ago.”

His brother nodded. “I’m glad you’re home. Safe.”

“When are you coming to visit?” Sam made it out to Compass Ranch almost as infrequently as he had. “It’s not the same without you three around to piss me off.”

“Too hard to fit in a trip. I’m in the running for VP, Si.” The corners of his brother’s mouth kicked up. “I’d be the youngest in the history of the company.”

“We all have our dreams, Sam.” Silas couldn’t begrudge his brother a shot at his. “Good luck.”

“You, too.” Sam smiled. “I think you’re going to need it.”

Colby slid from his horse, exhausted and sweaty. Dozens of snags had mutated his light day into a saga of never-ending hassles. From cowboys fist-fighting over a woman, to a handful of sick steers, to a busted fence, the ranch had conspired against him quitting early. He couldn’t wait to find out how Silas had spent his time alone.

“I can take care of Rainey for you,” Jake offered when he caught Colby peering at the house. “I don’t mind, foreman.”

“Thank you.” He slapped the man on the shoulder. “I’ll cover you next time, deal?”

“Deal.”

Colby glanced at the light shining from the upstairs window. Was Lucy in there, comforting their man, already? A twinge of unease ran through him. What if Silas only chose her? What if Colby fooled around with Silas and it didn’t make him as hot as he thought?

Okay, really, now he was being ludicrous.

Colby had never sought the company of another man, but he and Lucy had talked frankly about how much the idea fired him up. Big time. They’d even played with some toys. It hadn’t seemed the same, so they’d stashed the gadgets in their nightstand drawer.

Every now and then, when Lucy treated him to one of her spectacular blow jobs, she’d ream his ass with one of the moderate dildos. The combination spurred him to shoot so hard he feared he’d hurt, or worse, scare her. He never did. She would peek up at him with an evil grin then swallow the huge load he’d pumped down her throat.

Speak of the devil. The high-beams of his wife’s Jeep surprised him as they flooded the yard. He strode to greet her with one last tip of his hat to the ranch hands. “Looks like you had the same kinda day I did, baby.”

He handed Lucy down from the vehicle, taking her into his arms despite the fact that he stunk to high heaven. She didn’t seem to mind.

“If you mean a royally sucky one, then yep.” She rested her head on his chest, as though she absorbed strength from his embrace.

Colby adored providing for her.

He wrapped his hand around her elbow then escorted her into the house. As they passed through the kitchen, Vicky removed plates from the warming drawer and put them on a tray along with several beers. He studied the contents as he balanced it on one arm. “Three dinners? Silas hasn’t eaten yet?”

“Stubborn boy insisted he’d wait for you two.” Vicky smiled then kissed Colby and Lucy on the cheek. “JD and I are heading into town for a movie if you don’t need us. Rick and Janice Lowell have been asking us to stop by for ages to check out their new guesthouse, too. You know how it is when JD and Rick start tossing back and shooting the shit. If they talk us into staying, we might not see you kids until tomorrow.”

Colby hugged her extra tight. He was nobody’s fool anymore than he was still a kid. “Thank you, Vicky.”

“Welcome.” Silas’s mother squeezed Lucy’s hand. As he and his wife climbed the hardwood stairs together, they heard Vicky calling, “JD Compton, get your ass in gear or we’ll be late.”

The threat worked. JD insisted on being on time for things. Before he and Lucy paused outside Silas’s door, the engine to JD’s truck turned over. Colby exchanged a long look with his wife. She smiled and nodded. They were ready to discover the possibilities together.

They held hands as Lucy knocked softly on the paneled door. “Silas?”