A bet with the Duke

Warning: this short novel may contain sensitive content such as physical violence or sexual content.  Viewer discretion is advised.

Keira, her smile a facade, reluctantly allowed the vexing Duke Andreas Wallace, who had been plaguing her dreams, to lead her onto the ballroom floor. As she placed her hand in his, she caught a fleeting glimpse of her mother, her handkerchief nearly shredded in her grip. Ainsley, her eyes brimming with unspoken pain, vanished from the room.  

"Is this your idea of punishment, Duke Wallace? To not only humiliate me but also Ainsley, who you were practically courting, weren't you? Your relentless taunting has made even Lady Amethyst pity my futile attempts at finding a match, all thanks to you!" Keira's voice quivered with a potent mix of anger and deep-seated hurt as she confronted the Duke, her heart still racing from the tumultuous events of the past month.

Andreas could see the profound heartache his recent actions had caused Keira and her friend. "Ainsley Galeton and I were never courting, nor do I have any feelings for her. I have never pretended to do so; I was merely a chaperon for Conrad whenever she was around. My dear beauty, not once have I desired anyone more than you, the fire in your gaze when I saw you last at the club." His words were filled with regret, aching to undo the pain he had caused.

"But if that is true, why did you allow Ainsley to think that you would court her instead of telling her the truth?"Keira's gaze snapped to his intense stare before she averted her eyes, realizing that the couple dancing beside them was blatantly eavesdropping on their heated discussion. The tension in the air was thick, palpable, as she kept her gaze fixed on his velvet blue scarf. Reflecting on it now, she realized the folly of seeking him out as a match.

"Conrad is a coward and told the wee lass I wanted to seek her out, not him." Grand Duke Andreas Wallace, first of his name, duchy of Wolvefell, and first cousin to the Queen Agatha. How badly she wished to slap his irritable, handsome face once more vexed her.

Lowering his lips to the shell of her ear, he said, "My dear Miss Covington, my taunting antics are the last thing I wish to transpire between us unless you agree to my proposal after coming so sweetly for me in my study." He left a chaste kiss on her ear, leaning away slightly with a devious glint.

Part of her wish was that she didn't enjoy the shiver that went up her shoulders as the memories of his firm touches grasped her thighs. His lips and tongue bring her to shattering ecstasy over and over again. (Who would have guessed that wolf shifters would be the best kind of lovers a wallflower could dream about!) Shaking away the memories as they took another turn in the room.

Raising her chin defiantly."I shall not take your jokes so seriously; my brother, Tybalt, had already stated that you were too bitter to marry except for convenience." Andreas's playful expression grew severe at the sound of her brother's name, ending the jokes entirely.

  The waltz was halfway over at the next turn, catching another glimpse to see Ainsley shocked at Conrad's words. "Your brother has continuously made a proper fool of himself at every gentleman's club in town, allocating so many debts. The ones who have been sure that he makes it home despite his drunken stupor have been Conrad and me. Nothing I've said to you has been a joke, Keira; a mind as clever as yours is too hard to find in your dull society."

Coming to a complete stop as the other couples danced around them, Andreas held her close, pulling her off the ballroom floor and leading her over to the balcony, away from prying eyes. "You do not shine away from anything, Keira Covington, not when you saw my true nature- holding your own when it came to helping your brother with his debts with Bart Kingsley. You are everything an Alpha such as myself is looking for in a wife and, more importantly, a mate. Drama in society caused too many problems between us when I should have asked you the first time back in that alleyway."  

Keira winced, remembering that night she had begged Andreas to help her save Tybalt from the thugs sent after him. In her heart, she knows it is no use to hate the man she adores. Quriking her lips slightly, "Seeing a bloodied wolf head on a man's body was interesting. Though I highly doubt that it is something I wish to see again in such a horrifying way once we are married."

  Andreas stopped short and snapped his gaze to hers, pulling her in his arms and kissing her hands, "Repeat it once more; I burn to hear such words from you again, my love."  

  A breath away from his lip, Keira kept her gaze on him before speaking. "I said that I would marry you, Grand Duke Andreas Wallace, for I love you and want nothing more than to share my entire existence with you, however long it may be." Placing a chaste kiss on his lips, the kiss grew more profound, not noticing their accumulated audience.

  "Keira Covington, what are you doing?!" screeched Lady Grace Covington, growing more red in the face, finding her daughter with the likes of a shifter.

"Accepting the duke's proposal, Mother, what else?" Keira answers innocently.

Dearest reader, this quill burns in the excitement of Miss Keira Covington's (albeit hurried) nuptials with Grand Duke Andreas Wallace- first cousin to Queen Agatha. If you have not heard the shocking news of the season, let this writer be enlightened to tell you. It is said that the Duke of Wolvefell captured our dear wallflower's heart during Lady Keller's ball (to get her niece Ainsley Galeton and Lord Conrad Callum to land a love match). They spoke in such heated tones couples beside them couldn't help but notice how the Duke tried to get a steel heart wallflower to take him as her husband. After many futile attempts on the dancefloor (and off hidden away on the balcony), Miss Covington is now Grand Duchess Keira Wallace.

  A grand wedding reception occurs at Vance Hall, where only the creme de la creme holds such a reception, surely nothing less for the Queen's cousin.

                                 Your Always,

                                       Lady Amethyst