Page 33 of A Naughty Proposal for His Winter Countess
Her sweet mouth was a curse to him; Harriet was too good at these games—almost as if she was natural—and it was not too hard for him to imagine her lips on him.
But sitting in striking distance of her seduction was difficult, as his appetite had taken a drastic swing from food to something else. Forcing himself to put down the wine and cut into his food, Daniel found the taste, though spiced perfectly, severely lacking for his new appetite change.
Soon, he gave up altogether and opted to watch Harriet finish her meal.
“That was delicious,” she said, dabbing her lips with the napkin. “Are you well, Daniel? You haven’t eaten anything much.”
His smile was tight, “Don’t fret about it.”
When the serving bowls of flummery, were served, topped with a late preserve of blueberries, Daniel knew he had walked himself into a corner. Harriet used her fingers to pluck a berry off the top and held it to her lips.
“I don’t like flummery too much, but the fruit—” she bit into it and dark-blue juice dribbled down her chin as she did so.
Daniel ached to lean over and lick up the sweet trail, but contented himself with only looking as she plucked all berries up and ate them. When she was done, he rested his glass down.
“Well done,” he said slowly. “You must have excelled at school, because I find you a fast learner.”
Rubbing her neck, Harriet said. “Outside of the classes, school was horrible for me. Two girls, one of them, as I told you, was named TemperanceNottingham, the other Antoinette DeLuc. They teased me so much that I found residence in a sewing closet for hours. Just to hide from them.”
“Teased you about what?”
“My hair, my freckles, my once ‘chicken-breasted’ bosom, my tendency to gravitate to male interests instead of ladylike passions…” Harriet said while shrugging, “that I was the daughter of a clergyman and that the only prospects of marriage I would have would be to marry a vicar, and if not, become a nun. That I would be a bluestocking harridan to the day I died and that it would be a service to humankind if I died.”
Fury struck through him like a bolt of lightning, as the undeserved cruelty Harriet had been made to suffer under, while at the same time, he felt pity for the defenseless girl Harriet must have been.
“The cork-brained chits are mistaken,” Daniel replied, with a dismissive wave. “I’m sorry you had to be subjected to that maltreatment, but I’m glad you got the better of them.”
Harriet didn’t speak as the table was cleared, and when they were alone, she reached for her wine glass and asked, “How do you know so much about the wicked games that women play?”
Instantly, Daniel’s jaw clenched—he could not tell her about his ignoble past, that, frankly, was not so distant at all. No more than five days ago he had been in the sordid belly of a brothel, and back then, he had not seen any other prospects for him.
“I’d rather not tell you,” Daniel said, feeling like a hypocrite knowing that Harriet had told him about her less-than-happy past, but he did not feel comfortable telling her about his history with bawds.
“What if I guess?” Harriet asked. “You can only tell me yes or no to what I ask, agreed?”
“If I agree to that, I feel as I am putting a noose around my neck,” Daniel asked.
Harriet laughed, “I had a teacher once that didn’t care what horror I did, but would correct me after the fact. If she saw me tying my noose, she’d correct the knot after I was dead. I won’t judge you, Daniel; I only want to know.”
Amused, Daniel shrugged, “Try your best, but you only get five questions.”
Slowly swirling the glass, Harriet asked, “You’ve been to and have been serviced at a brothel?”
It's too far gone to be shameful, isn’t it?
“Yes,” Daniel replied succinctly.
“More than one visit, I take it,” she asked.
“Yes.”
Leaning back into her chair, Harriet phrased her next question carefully, “Did you learn all of what you’re teaching me now by the games they played on you?”
Daniel’s brows shot up, “Yes…mostly.”
“Mostly?” Harriet asked. “Does that mean you witnessed these games being played on others?’
He cocked his jaw on a fist, “Is that one of your official questions, or a tangent? I’ll answer, but that leaves you with only one more.”
