Never defy a vixen, p.1
Never Defy a Vixen, page 1
Never Defy a Vixen
Never Defy a Vixen
Neverhartts Book One
Dawn Brower
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Never Defy a Vixen Copyright © 2021 Dawn Brower
Cover art by Midnight Muse
Edits by Victoria Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
For all those that are the rocks of their circle, the dependable ones, the unwavering, unrelenting, honorable people that ensure everything is somehow always all right.
* * *
This book is for you. May the people that rely on you realize that sometimes, you too, need help.
You must be the best judge of your own happiness.
Jane Austen, Emma
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Afterword
Excerpt: Never Disregard a Wallflower
Prologue
Chapter 1
Excerpt: Never Dare a Hellion
Prologue
About The Author
Also by Dawn Brower
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Lightning flashed and lit up the night sky, illuminating the room more than mere candlelight. Thunder cracked and echoed through the silence permeating the room. It was late March, but it could be the dead of winter for all Lady Wilhelmina Neverhartt—Billie to her family and friends—cared. She had more important things on her mind. She swallowed hard and took a step toward her mother’s sickbed. Her father, Richard Neverhartt, the Earl of Seville, hadn’t survived the day, the illness overtook him hours earlier. Her mother, Augusta, the Countess of Seville, seemed to be losing her battle and soon would join her husband in the ever after.
“Billie,” her sister, Theodora—Teddy—whispered. “Don’t go in there.”
“I have to,” she replied, but even she could hear the dread in her voice. None of them wanted to witness their mother’s last breath. Whatever illness their parents had brought back with them in their travels seemed deadly, and the idea they might take ill too… Billie swallowed hard. She had to be strong. Soon, she’d be responsible for herself and her four siblings.
Damon, the youngest of them all at barely three and ten, had inherited their father’s title. Not that it did any of them much good because the estate had been rendered destitute. That was why their father had traveled to another country. He had become embroiled in some investment that promised him a windfall. Billie was damn near certain her father had been expecting a far different outcome than the deaths of his wife and himself. He’d doomed them all. She turned to her sister and said with a firm tone, “Teddy, go make sure Carly and Chris don’t come here. We can’t all risk contracting this illness. Damon is asleep, thank goodness.”
The twins, Carolina and Christiana, were both headstrong and had difficulties following instructions. Teddy was shy and kept to herself. She might not be able to convince them to remain in their bedchambers. Chris was more likely to do as she pleased. Carly might see reason.
“I’ll try,” Teddy said softly. “But you know how they are…” Her voice trailed off. She nibbled on her lower lip, apprehension nearly spilling from her as she stared at the sickroom. “Do you really need to go in there?”
“I do,” she insisted. “Now, go handle our impetuous sisters.” Billie couldn’t deal with them all and her mother’s certain death. She needed Teddy to do this one thing.
Teddy nodded and turned away from Billie. She took another tentative step into the room as a flash of lightning guided her path. The crack of thunder that followed had her jumping even though she’d expected it. Slowly, she creeped forward until she neared her mother’s bedside. Her blonde hair looked almost as white as the pillow underneath her head. Her skin had lost all color, and her lips were dry and cracked. She took a shallow breath that almost crackled and wheezed with each squeeze of air into her lungs. Her cheeks had sunken in and become more pronounced with her weight loss. The woman lying in the bed was her mother, but she stopped looking like the woman who had raised her days—no, weeks ago.
“Mama,” she said. The word was barely audible as it passed her lips. Billie swallowed and tried again, louder this time. “Mama, I’m here for you.”
The countess’s eyelids fluttered open, and she turned toward Billie. Her mother’s eyes were glazed over, almost unfocused as she stared at her. “Billie?”
“Yes, Mama,” she said. Should she touch her? Put her hand in hers? Billie had no idea how to act around this frail creature that was her mother. She had no experience with death or illness. Billie was afraid to make the wrong move or make anything worse, if it could be worse. “What…” Billie took a deep breath. “Tell me what you need.”
“Come a little closer.”
Billie took another tentative step. There wasn’t much distance now between her and the countess. Maybe if she somehow detached herself from the sight before her she could endure it. At least for a little while… There were no more servants to help. They had all left as soon as they realized how sick the earl and countess were. None of them wanted to risk becoming ill, and well, they didn’t have the funds to pay them. That chore had fallen to Billie, and it had drained every ounce of energy she could muster.
She was ready to give up, but she’d already lost one parent, and she hoped there might be a chance to save her mother. By some miracle neither she, nor her siblings had taken sick, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. They still could, and she prayed that fate wouldn’t befall them.
Her mother moved her hand toward Billie. “I’m sorry we’ve been such a strain on you.” Billie had chosen not to mention her father’s death. That might prove too much for her mother to bear. She was already fighting as hard as she could. She didn’t need to know that the earl had lost his battle. “I’m afraid that it will become more difficult as the days pass.” She wheezed in a breath. “I don’t want to die.” Her voice shook a little as she spoke.
Tears threatened to fall, but Billie reined them in. She could cry later in the privacy of her room.
“But death is here to claim me. I’m so, so sorry,” she said. “I cannot say that enough, and nothing I say will make this better. He was foolish, your father, and I was even more so to follow him to that forsaken country. We’re both paying that price now.”
Billie was having more difficulty fighting those tears. “It’s all right, Mama.”
“It isn’t,” she said. “But you’re a dear for saying so. I wish we could have left you with something, anything, to aid you in the trying time to come. You don’t need to tell me your father is no longer in this world. I felt him pass, and soon I’ll join him.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She never would have expected her mother to confess such a thing. Billie didn’t even know that it was possible… “I didn’t want to burden you with the truth.”
Her lips lifted into a waning smile. She could barely keep them tilted upward, and it hurt to witness that lack of strength. “You’re a resilient, brave girl. You’re going to need to be tougher than you have ever been and fight for you, and your brother and sisters. They’re going to need you. I wish it could have been different. Go see the Duke of Graystone—he’s your father’s godfather, and he’ll help you.”
Not long after those words, her mother took her last breath. A solitary tear rolled down Billie’s cheek. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like how the Duke of Graystone would assist them with their difficulties, but she had to gather all the fortitude she could and handle it. That’s what her mother expected her to do and what her siblings needed from her. She could no longer live her life for herself, and a part of her hated her parents for leaving her with so many complications to overcome. They were selfish, and she didn’t have any room to be anything other than the dependable older sister. Her life was no longer her own, if it had ever been…
Chapter 1
One month later…
* * *
Billie stared at the ornate mahogany desk and frowned. She wanted to be anywhere other than her current location. The Duke of Graystone had yet to join her, and she found it odd that his butler had shown her to what she presumed to be His Grace’s study. She had come to ask the duke for help, so perhaps somehow the butler had known that.
Where was he? She shuffled in her seat. The chair was hard, and she couldn’t find a comfortable position. Hopefully the duke wouldn’t take much longer. Though she had to admit she dreaded the upcoming conversation. Billie hated begging, but she didn’t have much choice. If the duke refused to help them…
She swallowed hard. Billie couldn’t think of that. The duke would help them. Her mother had told her to come to him, and she had put it off as long as possible. This was their last chance. The creditors had taken everything that hadn’t been nailed down. They couldn’t take the Seville estate because it was entailed, bu
Shuffling noises echoed behind her. She turned toward the sound as an elderly man strolled into the room. He had white hair on the sides of his head and shiny bald top. His stomach protruded outward and hung low over his trousers. The buttons of his waistcoat looked like they might pop if he breathed too hard. He had a wooden cane in his left hand that scraped across the floor as he moved toward her.
“Hello, dear,” he said. His voice was a little wispy as he spoke, and she had to strain a little to hear him.
“Hello,” she said demurely. Billie didn’t know what else she should say. It seemed a little stupid, and repetitive. She cleared her throat. “That is…how are you, Your Grace?” Not much better, but it would have to do.
“I’m fine.” He shuffled his feet and scaped his cane across the floor as he moved to his seat behind the desk. Once he reached his chair, he lowered himself gradually. It was painful to watch. After he was settled, he turned his attention to her. “I was saddened to hear about your father’s death. If I could have attended the funeral, I would have. My health isn’t what it once was.”
She believed it. Witnessing his slow gait, Billie would swear she could almost hear his bones creak with each step he'd taken. “It’s all right, Your Grace, it was a small funeral.” They couldn’t even afford that much. If they would have been forced to have a larger one, she’d have been at the duke’s feet begging the same day. “It’s best you do not strain yourself. My father would have understood.” Her father was selfish to the core and probably would have cursed the duke’s neglect, but she wouldn’t voice that sentiment.
The duke coughed. “You’ve been waiting awhile, and I don’t wish to keep you longer than necessary. What brings you by today?”
Billie wasn’t certain if she was happy he'd decided to dispense with the social niceties or irritated he didn’t wish to have a pleasant conversation with her. Though, on second thought, she didn’t really wish to spend any more time in his company than necessary. There was a strange odor in the room she feared was coming from him, considering she hadn’t noticed it before he’d entered.
“Before my mother…” She took a deep, fortifying breath. “My mother said that if I needed help I should come to you.” Billie prayed he didn’t send her packing for boldly asking for charity. It hurt to have to come to him. If she could have found another way, she would have.
“Did she?” He lifted a brow. “Augusta always did believe the best of me.”
What did that mean? “My mother saw the good in everyone.” Otherwise, she never would have married Billie’s father, or followed him wherever he went. She might still be alive if she had stayed home.
“That’s true,” the duke said. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk, then steepled his fingers together. “Tell me, Lady Wilhelmina, why should I help you?”
Billie should have expected that question, but it took her by surprise. She had no idea how to answer it. Her mother said the duke would help them. What if she’d been wrong? “My mother…”
“Didn’t know everything,” the duke interrupted her. “She never should have assumed anything.”
They were doomed. The duke would not help them. Tears threatened to fall, but she held them back. This odious man would not reduce her to a crying ninny. “So, you won’t help me and my siblings? You’ll let us starve?” Or worse…
“I’m not responsible for you or your family. My obligation was to your father, what little it was, and with his death that obligation, in my opinion, ended.”
He was an odious man. “I see.” And she did. The duke’s selfishness outweighed her father’s thousandfold. “I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time.” She stood and curved to head away from him.
“I never said I wouldn’t help.”
Billie stopped and turned toward him. “You as much said you wouldn’t. Why would I believe otherwise?”
“We can come to an arrangement.” He gestured toward the seat. “You have something I am very much in need of, and if you agree, I’ll support the rest of that brood Oscar and Augusta spawned.”
He leered at her and licked his lips, almost like his favorite meal or dessert had been placed before him. Her stomach rolled. “What do you need from me?” Billie had a feeling, deep down, that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Sit down,” he ordered. “This is not something we should discuss with you hovering over me.”
She was hardly doing any such thing. Billie wasn’t even close to him; nonetheless, she did as he instructed and settled back into the uncomfortable chair. “Now that I’ve done as you asked, can you please explain what you meant?”
“It’s simple really,” he began. “My scoundrel of a nephew is my heir, and I’d rather he not inherit my estate.”
Billie’s stomach plummeted at those words. “So you want me to…”
“Marry me and bear my son,” he finished for her. “I can have a special license today, and we can consummate the marriage tonight. My late wife didn’t fulfill her obligation, but I have no doubt you will do well. Your mother had five children. Surely you can manage one.”
The last thing Billie wanted was to marry an old man, and the idea of letting him touch her… Her stomach rolled again. It would be awful. Somehow, she would have to get through it though. This was the only way she could save her family. “All right,” she agreed before she changed her mind and ran from the house screaming.
“Good.” He grinned. “You and I are going to have a lot of fun together.”
Billie doubted that very much…
The wedding was scheduled to take place in less than an hour. Billie was close to losing what little contents were inside her stomach.
“Don’t do this,” Teddy said. “We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way,” Billie said firmly. “I have to. This way Carly, Chris, and you can make fabulous matches. Damon will be able to go to Eton.” She pasted a smile on her face. “That’s worth any price I have to pay, and at least I’ll be a duchess.” She would not think about the wedding night. The duke would surely crush her in his efforts to beget a child on her.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky and the old duke will croak soon,” Carly said.
“That would be a blessing,” Chris agreed and then looked at Billie. “What are the chances of that happening.”
Billie wished she could tell her sisters that everything would be all right. She didn’t fully believe it so she couldn’t voice those words. They had all suffered so much already, but Billie…hers would continue. Her only hope was that for the rest of them they’d move forward and have a real future. She shook her head, then sighed as the enormity of her situation flowed over her. “Not before I have to suffer through the consummation,” she said dryly. “My luck is not that good.”
The twins laughed. “At least you still have a sense of humor. You’re going to need it married to that old goat,” Chris said. “I really wish you didn’t have to do this.”
So did Billie. “There’s no other choice.” Her stomach rumbled. She might vomit yet… “We will all be fine.” And the duke was old. She might be able to have a second marriage built on love not necessity. “I promise that none of you will have to make this sort of sacrifice.”
Teddy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Billie. “I love you, and I want to make this right for you. Please don’t do this. I want you to be happy, and you’ll never be happy married to an old man that wants to use you.” Her voice wobbled a little as she spoke. Clearly, she was fighting tears.
