No one else came in Ethan's tent all night but he could see the shadows of the guards that his father had left outside the flap. He figured it was probably Doomer and Franks since those were those most faithful men his father had.

Dawn was upon them now and Ethan knew his father would be loading everyone up to move on soon. It was still a good two weeks of traveling before they reached the hideout down on the Mexican border. Ethan hated this life but he was just as much a prisoner as Caroline and her sister were now. He had tried to leave several times over the last ten years since joining his father at the age of sixteen but had learned fast that leaving meant dying… His father did not allow any man to ride away from him and live.

He groaned as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and listened to his stomach growl. His mouth was dry and his head was spinning. He needed food and he needed water. The whiskey wasn't doing anything but drying him out more.

He heard someone walking up to the tent and Caroline pulled back the flap and walked inside.

"Your fa….Mitchell... wanted me to check on you this morning. Make sure you were still alive." she said and he could hear how tired and worn down she sounded.

"How did you sleep?" he asked. He prayed that his father and his men hadn't taken advantage of her or that little girl as they had so many girls before them.

"Jasmine and I had our own tent. Mitchell says I need to be broken in a little more before I share his tent…. Apparently he didn't think it was funny when I bit his lip." she replied and he could see the spark of fire in her green eyes. It made him happy to see that, though she was tired, she was far from broken.

"You'll probably be safe til he gets to the hide out." Ethan said matter-of-factly. She nodded and was about to leave when she heard his stomach growl.

"Have you had no breakfast?" she asked. He shook his head. "Water?" she asked and he shook his head again. Her green eyes shone with anger and she stormed back out of the tent. Ethan scooted closer to the flap and peeked out to see her standing toe to toe with Franks with her hands on her hips.

"He needs food and water." she said matter-of-factly. Franks laughed.

"Too bad." he said.

"Do you want to explain to Mitchell that his son died because you let him go thirsty?" she demanded. Ethan snorted. His father would probably be thrilled if Ethan dropped dead from dehydration. But this seemed to put a little fear in Franks and he walked over to his horse and grabbed his canteen and several strips of jerky and handed them to her.

"You must have made quite an impression on all of them." Ethan said as she walked back in the tent.

"No your fa…Mitchell, told them all to make sure I was kept happy and satisfied or else he would put a bullet in them himself. I guess he thinks that by doing that I might warm up to him a little." she replied as she handed him the canteen. He looked at her dry cracked lips.

"Have you had anything?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Not this morning." she replied. He reached the canteen out to her but she pushed it back toward him.

"You need it worse than I do. There's not much left in there." she said.

"Darlin', I ain't taking a sip till you've drunk your fill." he replied holding the canteen out to her again. "You saved my life last night.. Least I can do is make sure you get a drink of water." Caroline took the canteen from his hand and took a sip before handing it back to him.

He smiled before pressing it to his lips and Caroline felt her heart speed up at the sight of his smile. She handed him the jerky, though he insisted that she eat some of it too, and as they both sat there chewing in silence Caroline took the time to look at him.

He was wearing only his trousers, boots and hat and though he was covered in dried blood and dirt there was no hiding just how lean and well muscled his upper body was. Caroline's father had been a doctor so Caroline had seen plenty of half naked men while helping him with patients but never before had she felt this strange heat in her lower body while looking at one.

"You better be getting back out there." Ethan said finally. His voice was strong, warm and soothing… Nothing like the cold, gravel filled voice his father had.

Caroline nodded and stood to leave but he grabbed her hand to stop her. Both could feel the sparks of heat from the contact and Caroline looked back at him to see that his dark brown eyes were full of concern as he looked at her.

"Be careful." he said. "Mitchell is dangerous and unpredictable…. If I can protect you I will but you still need to be careful." Caroline nodded and he slowly released his hold on her hand. He held the canteen out to her and she realized there was still several sips left.

"Finish it." she said trying to give it back to him. He shook his head.

"Let your sister have a drink." he replied. Caroline couldn't believe his kindness…. What was someone like this doing with these kinds of men?

"Thank you, Ethan." she said. He simply nodded and she walked out. Ethan lay back on his blankets and blew out a long breath. He would do whatever he could to keep Caroline safe. He would do whatever he could to get her away from his father before his father was able to put out that fire in her green eyes.

888

"Can you ride a horse?" Mitchell asked Caroline after camp was cleaned up. Caroline nodded.

"Good. I'll let you have your own horse today." he said. He saw the hope coming into her eyes and knew her mind was thinking about escape and he laughed harshly.

"I believe I'll let the retard ride with Doomer." he said.

"Jasmine can ride with me." she argued. He shook his head.

"No she'll ride with Doomer. And if you continue to argue with me I'll make sure my men know that the retard is fair game. I've kept them away from her so far but you know it's been a long time since most of them have had a woman." he said. Caroline felt her stomach turn. Her sister was only ten… What kind of man looked at a ten year old the way he would a woman?

"What exactly do you want from me?" Caroline demanded. "Why didn't you just kill me with my family?" Mitchell gave her a cold smile and ran one smooth finger down her cheek. He wanted her. He liked the fire he saw in her…. He had thought about forcing her to lay with him. Beating her until she had no fight left in her but now he wasn't so sure he wanted her broken. He wanted to bed her and feel and enjoy that fire in her soul.

He would use patience with this one. He would treat her as nicely as he could afford to without losing face with his men and eventually she would warm his bed. If she still refused he would simply use her retard sister to get what he wanted.. He saw how much Caroline loved the girl and he knew she would do anything to keep her safe.

"I want you, little Caroline." he replied matter of factly. Caroline shivered at the feel of his finger against her skin. She nearly vomited at the thought of being in his bed but she kept her back straight and her shoulders strong as she glared up at him.

"You'll have to kill me before that will ever happen." she spat. Mitchell gave a cold light laugh.

"We shall see." he said as he lowered his lips toward hers. Caroline was about to slap his face when a throat cleared behind them. Mitchell turned quickly to see who had the nerve to interrupt him.

"Ethan!" he said with a laugh when he saw it was his son standing there. "What can I do for you? I'm glad to see you aren't dead."

"I'll bet you are." Ethan said as he spared a quick glance at Caroline to make sure she was okay.

"I could have killed you for drawing on me boy but I didn't because you are my son and I was actually kind of proud to see you growing a back bone and trying to commit cold blooded murder." Mitchell said as he walked toward his son. Then he stopped and raised his finger so it was pointed at Ethan's nose.

"But let me tell you boy that the next time you try to draw on me I will put a bullet through your head. Is that clear?" Caroline looked at Ethan who was standing tall with his head held high. She could see the pride and strength in him and again wondered what he was doing here. Was he here just because Mitchell was his father and he felt a loyalty toward him or was it because he was a prisoner as well?

"Yes sir." Ethan said though his eyes held too much defiance for his words to mean anything. Mitchell sighed.

"You get that fighting spirit from your old man." he said patting Ethan on the back. Caroline could see the look of disgust on Ethan's face at the man's touch. "Maybe there's more of me in you somewhere. But just in case you didn't take my threat seriously I think we'll just leave you unarmed till we reach home."

"What if we run into trouble?" Ethan asked. Mitchell shrugged.

"Guess you'll die." he replied. Ethan nodded.

"Yea I guess so." he replied. He knew he could kill his father in a heartbeat right now where they stood. It wouldn't be hard. One good punch to the throat and the man would go down like a rock. Only problem was there were fifteen other heavily armed men around who were loyal to the bastard and would take it upon themselves to fill Ethan full of holes before his fathers dead body even hit the ground.

Mitchell chuckled again, gave Ethan one last pat on the back and then hollered to all the men.

"Let's saddle up, boys! It's time to ride!"

Caroline was given a mare of her own though her hands were bound together in front of her to take care of any thoughts she had about trying to run. Jasmine was bound and thrown onto the saddle in front of Doomer. Caroline didn't like Doomer. He was tall to the point of being freakish and so thin that the bones in his face and hands appeared to be nearly poking through his dirty skin. He had a big nose, shifty eyes and rotten teeth.

They rode hard all day and though Caroline's back and legs were aching and her thighs raw from rubbing the saddle she refused to voice one word of complaint or let her discomfort show on her face. She kept a close watch on Jasmine but her sister appeared to be fine. Frightened but unharmed.

Ethan rode up to Caroline sometime during the heat of the day and handed her his canteen that he had filled with water at a small stream. She gratefully excepted it and took a long drink before handing it back to him and wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her bloodstained white blouse.

"I think we could both use a change of clothes." he said looking down at his own bloody shirt he'd worn the day before. She nodded.

"Don't see us getting one any time soon." she replied. He shook his head and looked around at all the other men spread across the dusty plains, squinting in the sunlight. He looked back over at Caroline and noticed that she seemed to be getting sun burned. He pulled off his hat and placed it on her head.

"If he asks, you asked for it and I gave it to you." Ethan said matter-of-factly. Caroline nodded but held back her smile because she could feel Mitchell's eyes on them from about one hundred feet behind them.

"How do you feel?" Caroline asked. He shrugged.

"I've been worse." he replied. "How are you?"

"Scared." she replied honestly. "Is he going to kill my sister and I?" Before Ethan could reply a whip crack rang out loudly and he yelled out in pain. Caroline turned to see that Mitchell had rode up to them and it was his whip that had cracked sharply across Ethan's back.

"Get moving son." he said harshly. Ethan growled under his breath and gave a sharp kick to his stallions sides, galloping away quickly to catch up with the rest of the gang.

"Mind who you talk to little, Caroline. I'm a jealous man." Mitchell said with a warning gleam in his eye. Caroline curled her lip.

"Every single one of your men repulse me." she said. "Believe me when I say you have no reason to be jealous." She urged her mare faster to put some distance between them.