Damsel in Distress? (5 page)

The tepid water unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth and relieved her dry lips. When she lowered to glass, she was amazed to find it empty. She reached over to place it back on the table but she misjudged the distance and set it on the edge of the table. Her reactions were too slow to catch it before it fell. It hit the drawer handle on the way down and exploded into thousands of tiny fragments of crystal, one of which lodged itself in her shin. She watched as a drop of blood trickled down her leg and onto the priceless carpet at her feet.

Slowly, slowly she moved her legs back up onto the bed and reached down to pluck the shard loose. It stung as she pulled it out and started to bleed again, but she was too tired to stem the flow. Placing the shard on the table she wiggled back down the bed until she was lying flat once more. Seconds later she was fast asleep.

Chapter 10

Philip stopped as soon as he walked into the room.

Blood.

The smell of it greeted him at the door and instantly he was transported back to that awful night in the park. He rushed to her bed but soft snores came from her lips and she was unscathed. He stood in silence and watched her sleeping. The gentle rise and fall of her chest soothed him. He moved to the other side of the bed and pulled the all-too familiar chair closer to the bed and sat down.

Something sharp stabbed him in his stocking foot. It was only then that he noticed the bloody shard of glass lying on the table. Looking down, a thousand pieces of crystal twinkled on the floor in the late afternoon light. A smear of red across the sheets caught his attention and he stripped the cover back.

He didn’t know she slept naked.

Air left his lungs in a whoosh as the expanse of skin greeted his eyes. His hands itched to touch its smoothness but with a sigh he lowered the sheet back over her, the vision still burned upon his eyes. He grabbed the small bell standing on the table and shook it savagely. The ringing brought a maid running but it also woke Harriet. He cursed his stupidity and slumped back into the chair.

“Miss Harriet is injured and there is glass littering this floor. Where were you?” he asked, the anger rising up inside him. “You should have been here with her. She should not be left alone.” He said everything to the maid that he should have been saying to himself.

“Philip,” Harriet spoke softly and placed a hand on his knee. “It’s all right. It’s my fault there is glass everywhere. I’m terribly sorry you cut yourself.”

He looked at her pale face and felt like an even bigger ass. “That’s just it, Harriet, you shouldn’t have been left alone. Why didn’t you ring the bell if you wanted a glass of water?”

“I couldn’t reach it.” Temper flared in her eyes and he was pleased she wasn’t as much an invalid as she looked.

Philip gritted his teeth until he was sure he heard them crack. “My point exactly.”

A smile graced her lips warming his heart. Unable to take his eyes off her, Philip apologised to the maid for his outburst and propped his feet on the bed so the maid could remove the glass from the carpet.

“Sir?” ventured the maid after a few moments down on her knees.

“Yes?” He still hadn’t stopped looking at Harriet.

“I’m sorry sir, but you gonna have to move, sir, I can’t reach the rest.”

He looked at the floor and saw the crystal still sparkling in the light, although not nearly as much as before. He switched his gaze to the maid. Her hands were covered in small cuts, blood oozing from the tips of her fingers. He jerked to his feet, resulting in his pushing the shard of crystal that was still in his foot, further into his skin.

“Good Lord, girl, what are you doing?”

“Picking up the glass, sir, like you said.”

Guilt swamped him. She was right, he had been too preoccupied by Harriet to pay any attention to the maid, but he never intended for her to hurt herself, especially not for him. To help clear his conscience he helped her to her feet.

“I’m sorry, my dear, but I assumed you would fetch yourself some gloves before you started, and I never intended you to be harmed. Take yourself down to the kitchen and have Cook look after your hands. That glass needs to be removed. Take the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well. Lord knows you won’t be much use with hands cut up like that. Off you go now.”

The maid bobbed a curtsey. “Yes sir, thank you sir.” With a huge smile on her lips she turned and fled.

Harriet chuckled as the girl rushed from the room. “You’re a good man, Philip Blade, and I think you just made her day.”

Philip shrugged. He imagined the maid would appreciate the time off. So would he; with the maid out of the way he and Harriet were once again alone in the room.

“And you, my dear, have a cut on your leg. Do you want me to send for Dr Brown to tend to it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Philip, you can manage without him, I’m sure.” She thrust her leg from under the covers and once again he found himself staring at her bare skin.

His butt hit the chair again. It had been doing that a lot lately. He reached out and gently clasped her leg with his hand. Her skin was as smooth as he was scared it would be. His fingers ran up her leg of their own accord and he was hard pressed to make them stop at the cut on her shin. With his other hand he dipped the edge of the sheet into the pitcher of water and used it to mop up the dried blood. A small drop of fresh blood appeared at the site and he lowered his face and kissed it away. The metallic taste was strong on his tongue. He raised his head and looked into her eyes.

“I’m not sure why I did that,” he said.

“Don’t stop,” she replied breathlessly.

He didn’t need to be told twice. Philip lowered his head back to her leg and kissed his way from her toes to her knee. He wouldn’t allow himself to go further no matter how much he desired to do so.

Chapter 11

Shivers ran up and down Harriet’s spine with each kiss Philip brushed upon her skin. Her head fell back onto the pillows with a sigh, her fists clenching the sheets at her side.

He stopped.

She sat up and looked at him.
What the hell was he stopping for?

His forehead was resting on her knee, one hand gently clasping her foot and the other fisted the covers, the only evidence that he too was struggling to maintain control.

She lowered herself back down so she was lying flat. Her body was exhausted from all the activity today. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing and fight away the desire skating through her system.

“Philip?” she called after a few moments.

He raised his head off her knee and quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Come here,” she beckoned.

Flutters erupted in her chest as he crawled up the bed towards her. He poised himself over her, a boyish grin upon his face. “Yes, my lady, you called?”

“My head hurts, could you lie with me a little while?”

Concern replaced his smile and he lay down next to her before gathering her into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. “Rest, my lady,” he whispered into her hair and dropped a kiss onto her forehead.

Harriet snuggled closer to his warmth, closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

***

Her head hurt less when she awoke. She was alone in her bed, the space beside her more empty than it had ever been before. Harriet turned her head and looked out the window. She was glad they had finally opened the curtains. It must be early morning with the way the light hung in the air and cast shadows on the ground. A large tree outside her window cast shadows from its leaves throughout the room. She was watching them shift in the breeze when there was a small knock on her door. She managed to roll so that she was looking at the doorway when it cracked open.

Cressandra’s head poked in. “Oh, you’re awake,” she said with a bright smile. “I was hoping to find you up.” She came the rest of the way into the room and took up residence in the chair her brother had been spending his nights in…except last night. A flush of heat covered her face.

Harriet looked at her guest. She was wearing a beautiful flowing gown that set off her light auburn hair and accentuated her curves. Harriet found herself wishing she too could look as nice as Cressandra, but supposed she would have to forego the option due to being confined to bed.

“Philip has finally allowed me to come and visit you. I’ve been dying to come ever since you arrived but I suppose he is right to let you recover and rest.” Cressandra scooted the chair closer to the edge of the bed and leaned in. “How are you feeling? I imagine you have such a sore head, what with what happened to you and all. Imagine getting chased down by madmen and nearly shot! Lucky thing my brother was out carousing that night, not that he’ll ever hear me admit such a thing, but all the same, lucky for you.”

Harriet decided that she was wrong. Her head did hurt today. “What do you mean, almost shot?”

“Oh! Ummm…hasn’t Philip told you? Well. I must be going now.” Cressandra jumped up from the chair and patted Harriet on the hand. “You feel better now. I’ll come back tomorrow.” She practically ran from the room.

Harriet lay there watching the shadows of leaves float along the ceiling and tried to remember. She tried to remember the night she was found and brought here and she tried to remember
anything
before that. Nothing. Her mind remained frustratingly blank. She still couldn’t even remember her last name, although there seemed to be a word dancing just out of her reach and try as she might to catch it, it drifted past her tongue.

The door opened again and without even looking she knew who it was. Philip came into view as he sat in the chair his sister had recently vacated. He sat in silence for a long time and finally Harriet brought her eyes to his face. She felt the now familiar jump in her chest as her eyes made contact with his. Would this always happen? The electric charge that jumped between them on contact? His eyes bore into hers. They seemed sad today and if she concentrated she was sure she would be able to pluck his thoughts out of his head into hers. She wasn’t certain that she wanted to.

“Are you all right?” She hated that he asked her so gently. His understanding almost undid her and she struggled to keep in her tears. She managed a nod and looked back up at the ceiling of her room. She couldn’t maintain eye contact with him any longer. If she could feel his thoughts, then surely he could feel hers.

“Cressandra told me she thinks she may have upset you.” Harriet sensed him run his hands through his hair. Over the last few days she had become very aware of his habits and this was one done regularly in her presence, as though she was a source of concern.

“She didn’t upset me.”

“I should have told you earlier.” His hand touched her face gently and she turned to once again look into his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said and she could see the regret on his face. “I didn’t want to upset you by telling you everything that happened that night. Dr Brown agreed with me.” Philip raised his hand as though to stop any comment from her. “It’s no excuse, I know, but I was trying to protect you as much as I could. You have to understand that I feel responsible for you now. I should have been able to stop those men before they hurt you like they did, but I didn’t and for that I will be forever sorry.”

He placed his hand gently on her arm and lightly rubbed it up and down. Sparks flew along her skin at his touch and warmth spread throughout her body. She pulled her arm away but forced herself to look directly into his eyes. She wished he’d lie with her again.

“Please tell me what happened. I want to know. I want to remember. You have no idea what it’s like to lie here and not know anything about yourself…not even your own name. Please tell me,” she begged him.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Philip leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. Harriet was glad for the extra space between them. If he wasn’t going to hold her and make her safe, she’d rather he kept his distance. She couldn’t think with him so close.

“I’ll start from the beginning,” he said, settling deeper into his chair as though they were in for a long story. She hoped it would jar her mind and unleash the memories hiding in there. “We went through this yesterday, do you remember?”

“Some…I think. Maybe you should tell me again. Why can’t I even recall conversations from yesterday?”

“It’s all right; you had quite a bump to your head. I suspect you will have a bit of problem with your memory for a while yet.” He reached over and brushed her hair away from the bandage on her head. “Very well, here we go. I attended a ball earlier in the night; I’ll admit I was a bit deep into my cups.” He grinned. “Deep enough I thought it was a good idea to follow my ex-mistress into the gardens of our host. I had obviously drunk far too much as any sane person would instantly know the error of that decision.” His smile had disappeared and Philip shifted uncomfortably in his seat, a red stain working its way up his neck. “Let’s just say she had her way with me and I felt the need to depart the party early. Unfortunately, she decided to come along with me and after further refreshment and uh…recreation at her residence, I managed to escape and head towards home. I was taking a short cut through the park since I had let my driver go home earlier. It was such a fine night and I’m not such a dandy that I can’t walk on my own two feet.” Philip sat up slightly in the chair and looked the part of a self-important peer for a moment before his shoulders drooped and he continued with his tale. “It was while I was walking home that I found you. You were running from three other horsemen and I must admit at first I thought you were a man from the way you were riding. You weren’t sitting side-saddle. It wasn’t long before I knew the truth, however. You screamed when they shot your horse.” Philip’s voice started to shake and Harriet rolled over and placed a hand on his knee. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. He wouldn’t look at her as he told her the rest. “I don’t know if you remember the walk back here?” Philip finally brought his eyes back to hers.

Harriet didn’t remember anything until she woke up in this room a few days ago and even that was a bit fuzzy.