Damsel In Distress?. Kristina O'Grady

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      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 СКАЧАТЬ