Page 5 of The Duke and the Accidental Bride

Isabella didn’t know if she should have been angry, insulted, or grateful! All felt correct. What His Grace was saying made perfect sense and was true enough. But it was the way that he was saying it that struck her the wrong way.

“And if I do not care about any of that?” she said.

He sighed. “Then think of your uncle. I am more than aware of your family’s situation, and I know personally how grateful your uncle would be if you were to do this for me. And how upset with you he would be if you did not.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at her, the implication of his meaning clear.

Isabella felt a flair of anger ignite inside of her such that she met the Duke’s gaze with a glare of her own. And she might have done more than that... was she not wholly aware of the truth that he spoke.

He was blackmailing her. It was as simple as that. And considering the hold her uncle had over her and her family, it was a very effective form of blackmail to boot.

“So...” She continued to glare at him. As handsome as he was, she saw right past that. A cruel, manipulative monster is whatthe Duke was. A beast! “Those are my choices, are they? To be your... your plaything for the night, lest my uncle become upset.”

“Not the words I would have used,” he said without a hint of emotion. “But if that is how you wish to see it. So, do we have a deal?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He chuckled. “You always have a choice. But choices come with consequences, Miss Gouldsmith. Some good, some bad. Now...” Suddenly, he stepped in closer, so close that he was less than a foot away. Towering over her, she caught her breath, very nearly stumbled back and might have, had his hand not found its way to her waist. His touch sent a pulse through her body, and she gasped, eyes wide, heart racing with fear... and something else. That something else rose in her as he leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper as his mouth moved to her ear. “Do we have a deal?”

Her mind was frozen. His hand on her waist... the feel of his body so close to her own... the power that radiated through him in ways that she had never felt before.

She stood with her mouth hanging open, her heart rate rising, her stare meeting the Duke’s as if trapped by it.

“Well?” he asked.

Isabella wanted to say no. Of course she did! If for no other reason than to put the Duke in his place, for she was not one to be commanded and ordered about like a house-trained puppy! But she had heard the Duke’s words, she recognized the threat, and she knew that if she was to say no… her uncle, as unforgiving a man as he was, would become even more so.

In short, she had no choice.

“Ye -- yes,” she stammered, trying desperately to control herself.

“Good girl...” His breath was a whisper, and it had her skin breaking out into goosebumps. And then, suddenly, he stepped back and straightened and the spell he had cast broke. “I will leave instructions with your uncle. But I expect to be seeing you next week. Do I make myself clear?”

The Duke was not used to being told no. He was not used to not getting what he wanted. And this conversation, thisrequest, made that perfectly clear. Isabella had met a lot of lords and even dukes in her life, but none were like this man. None radiated that sense of assurance and power and command like he did.

A natural troublemaker, Isabella yearned to say no and fight this. But one look at his eyes, that steeled gaze, and her legs became jelly and any sense of resistance she might have felt was destroyed such that she was reduced to exactly what he desired of her: a complacent plaything to do with as he so pleased.

“Yes,” she said weakly, utterly defeated. “I understand perfectly.”

As you will come to understand that I am not one so easily cowered. As regrettable as this situation is… I have no doubt that His Grace will come to regret it even more than I.

Chapter Two

"Are you sure this is a good idea?” Louisa said. She had a grimace on her face, and a fearful look in her eyes.

“It is not as if I have a choice,” Isabella said.

“Of course you do!”

“No.” Isabella swung about and looked at her twin sister. “I do not. Remember, it was His Grace who brought this on, not me. Anything that happens tonight is on him.”

Louisa did not look convinced. If anything, the fear present in her eyes only grew for no doubt she recognized the determined, and almost certainly mischievous, look on Isabella’s face. A look which told her that her sister was up to no good and that nothing could be said or done to change her mind. Such was Isabella’s stubbornness.

“But... but... but it is only for one night,” Louisa begged. “And he is not asking that much. Not really.”

“It is not just what he is asking of me, Louisa.” Isabella turned back to face the mirror that she had spent the last five minutes looking into. “It was the way that he asked – you were not there. He was just sorudeabout it. Mean. And the implication behind what he said...” She scoffed.

“What implication?”

“That I should be so lucky! Well...” A self-satisfied smirk crossed her lips as she studied both her reflection and outfit. “He is about to learn firsthand that he cannot go about bullying people withoutconsequences.”

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