Breaking the Rules (1st in Breaking Series)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Elizabeth was sure she couldn't go another step. Her legs were shaking beneath her and her whole body hurt. Her face was red and burning from the sun, without her hat to protect it, and her mouth was dryer than the sand and grass beneath her feet. Her tongue felt as if it was swelling bigger by the second and when she raised her hand to her lips, she realized they were bleeding. She was no longer sweating since there was no water left inside of her for her body to use as sweat.

Brody had been keeping a steady pace in front of her for hours as the Texas sun beat down on their heads. His hat was gone as well, his clothes were blood covered and filthy and his hair was knotted and messy on his head. She wished he'd turn around and see how tired she was so they could stop because there was no way on God's green earth she was going to voice a single word of complaint. Not when he was walking as if enjoying a nice stroll through the park. His shoulders held high, his steps long and steady. Why couldn't he be stumbling the way she was? Bullet wound and all he was unstoppable and it irritated her.

She looked down at the ground and her head swam as her eyes drifted closed. She tripped over her own feet and prepared herself for the pain she knew she'd feel when she hit the ground. Instead she felt two strong arms close around her and lift her from the ground, cradling her against a rock hard chest. She wanted to protest to being held like a child but her body was too weak and her mind to weary. She didn't even open her eyes as she curled up against him and threw her arms around his neck.

Brody looked down at her, sound asleep against his chest and knew he was in trouble. So much for never letting a woman get under his skin. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, she was so deep under his skin she might as well be a part of him.

He'd tried to keep his distance at the ranch but even then her hardworking spirit, her confidence, her determination to make it as a woman in a man's world had impressed him. Her beauty and her grace had attracted him and her temper had both infuriated and excited him.

Now holding her in his arms, so soft and helpless in her weakened state he felt the last of his defenses crumbling. Brody continued on, his legs weak and shaking. His only thought was that he had to find Elizabeth some water. He was following some deer tracks in the dried up ground, hoping they'd lead him to some kind of water since most critters out here were looking for water.

He saw a small watering hole in the distance and blinked several times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. When the water remained where it was he breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't going to die yet. He carried her to the waters edge and dropped to his knees beside it. He wrinkled his nose, the water stunk like sulfur, which meant it would taste horrible but it wouldn't harm them. It was mud filled and dirty but it was water and it would give them something to drink.

He dipped his hand in the water, finding that it was warm and he ran his dripping fingertips over Elizabeth's chapped, bloody lips. She moaned and her tongue darted out and his heart pounded when it flicked across his fingers. Her eyes remained closed and as he wet his hand again and rubbed more water across her parched pink lips he looked more closely at her face. She was getting sun burnt out in the sun without her hat to protect her delicate skin. Her hair was coming loose from the braid and tangling around her face. She looked exhausted, and her skin was drawn. Brody kicked himself for not slowing his pace for her.

For the last nine years he had worried about no one but himself and he supposed that wasn't a habit he'd be able to break in a day but he did vow to pay more attention to how she was faring. She might think she was a tough cowgirl, and she was when it came to working a ranch, but she had never been through something like this.