"Was that why you decided to pursue me? As a conquest you could brag about?" she asked, feeling a numbness seize her. Would he now leave her as Drew had done?
"No, my love. Never," he answered, finally succeeding at making himself bootless. He reached over and grabbed her by the shoulders and gently lowered her onto the blanket. "I would never be so foolish to tell other men how your lovemaking can make me lose my mind. Why would I? They would only want a taste of your nectar also."
"I'm so glad you'd not tell," Eugenia whispered, her fingers already unbuttoning his plaid shirt. He continued to lie in silence beside her, letting her fingers light small fires on his skin as she pulled the shirt from around his shoulders and down his arms.
"I so love the curls of your chest hair," she said further, now kissing one of his nipples, then another as her fingers ran through the coarseness of the rust-colored hair of his chest.
"Tell me more, Eugenia," he said hoarsely, his fingers now working at the buttons of her blouse, then pulling her underthings downward to rest around her waist. She closed her eyes and gasped as his fingers creeped around a now bare breast.
"Such large breasts for such a small woman," he murmured, lowering his mouth over one, pulling the stiffness of its nipple between his teeth, nipping at it, teasing it.
It sounded so good to Eugenia, hearing Adam say that she was small. She quickly forgot that it was broad daylight on this mountain side, not caring who might venture by. All that she cared about, was aware of, was this man who was capable, of fulfilling her needs to such an extent that she would willingly beg for more from him if it became necessary.
Then, feeling the mouth move from her breast, Eugenia opened her eyes and watched him in anxious silence, in anxious admiration, as he unfastened his belt buckle and began to undo the front of his breeches. She lifted her skirt and removed the rest of her underthings, still watching him as he pulled the erectness of his manhood from its tight confine. The pearling of sweat on his brow glistened like diamonds in the brightness of the day, as did the dewdrops of whiteness bubbling from the tip of his manhood, and the smell of him even overpowered the aroma of flowers that lay on the blanket's edge beside her. She reached her arms upward and welcomed the full weight of his body as it stretched out above her. His fingers tangled hold of her hair as he thrust himself inward.
"My Eugenia," he said thickly, then found her mouth with his, but was unable to quell the moans surfacing from deep down in her chest. She arched her body upward and rode with him with each stroke, feeling the tides of warmth sweeping through her brain, leaving her senseless once again. She hated for his lips to leave hers but could hear his deep pants of breath in her ear as he buried his face in her hair, stiffening his body for only a moment. Then he began to tremble with intense release at the same moment she did.
Only moments afterward, opening her eyes slowly, Eugenia was again aware of the ripples of the water close to where they lay, and the movement of a family of quail skipping along the mountain path so close she could have touched the brown smoothness of one.
"Adam?" she whispered, combing his red hair with her fingers.
"Yes, my love?" he whispered back, rolling from atop her.
"Do you think you might truly love me? Just a little?"
"I love you, Eugenia. Entirely," he answered, letting his hands caress the curves of her breasts once again.
"Will you stay in Cripple Creek for long?" she said, scooting next to him, fitting the curve of her body next to his, straightening her skirt, hiding the lower half of herself from Nature's gaze.
"As long as you're there, and want me," he said, eyeing her questionably with his dark brown eyes.
Eugenia began to run a finger over the thickness of his reddish lashes, making them blink nervously. She laughed softly.
"As long as I want you?" she said. "Adam, I've been waiting for you too long. How could I ever not want you?"
He grumbled. "Women are known to be fickle," he said. "Especially madams."
Eugenia sat up, her pride hurt once again by his implications. She pulled her underthings in place, then slipped her blouse on and buttoned it slowly.
"Can't you just think of me as an ordinary person, Adam?" she asked, turning toward him to plead with her emerald-colored eyes. "You know I don't participate in the sexual aspects of my house. You were the first since…"
Adam stood up over her, straightening his own clothing and slipping his shirt back on. He looked away from her. "Since… who… ?" he asked quietly.
Eugenia rose, ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it up around her shoulders, then began to walk toward the creek, remembering another time, another creek, another man. She felt movement behind her and knew that Adam was following.
"Since who?" he persisted, picking up pebbles, tossing them into the water, making ripples move outward from small, to larger, reminding Eugenia of the confusion of her mind. She knew that to tell any, was to have to tell it all.
"There have been two men in my life. Sexually," she added, almost inaudibly, sitting down on the water's edge, watching the clearness of the water and its sudden foaming around rocks jutting in the way.
Adam sat down beside her, pulling his breeches legs up to reveal that he had put his boots on once again. Eugenia looked at them, seeing true cowboy boots for the first time ever, with the pointed toes and high heels. She looked upward into his face, a face of trust. Surely he would understand. She had to tell him about Drew, and the other man whom she had thought to be Drew when she had been under influence of drugs—thanks to Madam Valerie and her wickedness.
"Please don't say anything until you've heard it all," she said, putting a forefinger to his lips, sealing them. "Okay?"
He smiled awkwardly and shook his head in agreement.
Eugenia began to tell the story, from the beginning, even the night's activities with Drew at the base of the mountain. She even continued on until she had told all about Dawn's murdering Madam Valerie, realizing he was the first person she had revealed this secret to. Then Frederick's part in her life, and why she had chosen to be the madam. When finished, she stared in silence into his face, waiting for his negative response. Maybe he would no longer want her. But hadn't he expected it since she was a madam? She just didn't know…
"Well?" she asked, almost shyly.
"All I can say is damn, damn, damn," he uttered, pulling her into his arms, clutching her to him. "What breaks, Eugenia," he added. "I wish I'd have come along much sooner. None of that damnation would've happened to you."
"But you would have seduced me as the others, wouldn't you have?"
"My love, if I had met you under the proper circumstances, no, I wouldn't have seduced you," he said flatly, smoothing her hair away from her face. "I would've courted you, Oklahoma style, then I would've made you my wife."
Eugenia's heart began to pound, then slowly melt as his mouth found hers once again. Was she truly falling in love with Adam, so much so she could forget about Drew, and how he had made her feel? She so wanted to love Adam. He was so good for her. Was she for him?
"Tell me about your home in Oklahoma," she said, sidling next to him, breathing deeply with contentment, watching the shimmering water once again.
"I loved working with the horses," he said proudly. "I worked on ranches. Never had one of my own. But worked wherever they had horses to care for."
"Then why did you leave?"
"The gold fever bit even an old cowpoke like me." He laughed hoarsely.
"And? Have you been successful at gold mining?"
"I hate to say a no to that question," he drawled. "In fact, I've almost run out of funds."
An urgency seized Eugenia. "You mean you might go back to Oklahoma? Leave?"
He laughed loudly. "Didn't I tell you already that I wouldn't leave you? Not as long as you want me."
"I hope you're not joshin' me."
Adam grasped Eugenia's shoulders and turned her gaze to meet his, his eyes wide, laughin
g back at her. "Hey! What talk comin' from a madam. Joshin'? Where did you pick that up from?"
"I didn't add that to my story," she said. "When I first came to Cripple Creek I had the most horrendous English. I took lessons. That's why I don't use slang."
"I think I'd welcome some slang from your full, pouting lips, Eugenia," he said, laughing once again. Then he grew serious as his hands dropped away from her. He plucked another stem of grass and stuck it in the corner of his mouth.
"If I did have to leave," he said quietly. "Would you come with me?"
"Would… I… ?"
His gaze met hers once again. "Yes. Would you come with me? Be my wife?"
"Your wife?" she exclaimed. "We only really met yesterday. How could you be so sure, to ask me to marry you?"
He took her hands in his. "Eugenia, you told me your life history. Don't you think I can be judge of who I'd like to be my wife?"
She looked away from him, blushing. She then looked up at the sun, trying to explain the blush away. "It's durn hot on this mountain, ain't it?"
Adam flew into a fit of laughter. "Yep. It shure is," he said. "But are you tryin' to evade my question?"
"Adam, I just don't know what to say," she finally did answer. "I have many responsibilities to the girls at my house. What would they do without me?"
"Damn it, Eugenia," he shouted, spitting the weed from his mouth. "Do you think you're the only madam in that whole Goddamn town? You're not meant to be a madam. You're meant to be loved and to be a mother. Damn. Will you just forget about that whorehouse you run?"
Eugenia jumped up and began to stomp away from him. She hated the name "whore," especially when used to describe the girls in her house. She knew the reasons why they had all been made to be as they are and knew that they would have never chosen to be "whores" if they had a choice. She placed her feet in the stirrups and swung herself atop Adam's horse. Digging her feet into the horse's sides, she began to ride away from Adam, knowing that he wouldn't be able to catch up with her right away because he had his saddle to replace. She set her jaw, wondering why he had ruined a perfect moment for the two of them. He knew how she felt about the girls, and most certainly knew that she detested the vulgar word he had used to describe her girls.
She snapped the reins against the horse's body and was glad to see the town come into view. She didn't want to talk any further with Adam. Not today. He had inflicted a deep wound, one that would have to heal before she was ready to face him once again. She would give him time to think over what he had said.
Pulling the horse to a halt in front of her house, she tied the reins onto the hitching post and hurried inside, stopping only long enough to get a glimpse of Adam in the distance, having just turned onto Myers Avenue.
Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against it heavily, taking deep breaths. She looked upward, and all around her, hearing the silence. Then her eyes shot upward again, wondering where everyone was. Then Alison came bustling down the stairs toward her.
"Where the hell have you been, Eugenia?" she snapped, her eyes dark.
"I've been riding with Adam. Why?"
"Come on into the parlor with me," Alison said, soothing her tone of voice to a murmur.
"Okay. But spit it out. What's troubling you?" Eugenia said, loosening the blouse from around her neck, fanning herself with the back of her hand.
"You'd better sit down, Eugenia," Alison said, guiding Eugenia by the elbow to a chair.
"Will you quit treating me like an invalid," Eugenia snapped, refusing to sit. "Tell me what's wrong. Will you?"
Alison clasped her hands in front of her. "It's Frederick."
Something grabbed at Eugenia's heart, remembering how badly he had looked of late. "What about Frederick?" she mumbled.
"He had a heart attack at the Opera House while Leonora Jackson was giving a violin concert."
Eugenia's fingers went to her throat. "Oh, my God," she moaned. "Is he dead?"
Alison lowered her eyes. "Yes. He's dead."
Tears sprang from Eugenia's eyes. How unfair life could be! She and Frederick had only recently become truly close, like a father and daughter. And now this? She had so wanted to make his life happy, to fill the void that he apparently had created by being distant all the years he had lived here. He had only begun to realize the implications of that act, and had begun to entertain people in his massive house. And now? The house would be silent again.
"Where is he?" Eugenia said quickly, picking her skirt up in her arms. She wanted to go to him.
If she hadn't been on the mountain, making love, maybe she could have been with him.
"He died immediately, Eugenia," Alison said softly. "He was taken to the morgue. He's being prepared to be laid out at the Opera House."
"He's going to be on view, at the Opera House?"
"He requested it in his will. A lawyer was here a short while ago asking for you. He told me to tell you that Frederick would be ready for viewing tomorrow morning, and he also told me to tell you that he had much to tell you of importance."
Eugenia's heart began to pound. "He said he had much to tell me?" she gasped.
"I'm sure Frederick left something to you in his will."
"I wonder what?"
A pounding on the front door drew Eugenia's immediate attention from her thoughts. "Damn. Who's doin' that?" she stormed, then headed toward the door herself. She flung it open to find Adam standing there, his face crimson, the sweat pouring down in streams.
"What the hell do you think you're doin', Eugenia. Rushin' away from me like that?" he demanded, pushing her aside, entering to stand beside her.
Eugenia burst into tears and fell into his arms. "Oh, Adam," she moaned. "It's so horrible."
"What… the… ?" Adam mumbled and eyed Alison questionably.
"Frederick died while at his Opera House this afternoon," Alison said softly, then left Eugenia and Adam alone.
"Did you care that much for that old man?" Adam asked, tipping Eugenia's chin upward with a forefinger. She didn't have to answer, he could see the deep sorrow in her eyes.
"For only a short time. He was like a father to me, Adam." She continued to sob on his shoulder.
* * *
Chapter Nineteen
Frederick's death had drawn his largest audience. They lined up the full length of Myers Avenue to take a last look at his remains. In life, he hadn't realized the respect and admiration of the townspoeple. He hadn't even once glorified himself for being responsible for having brought many pleasurable hours to so many people by the magnificence of the performers he had chosen to be presented to the people of Cripple Creek.
But now, opening the front door leading into The Towers, Eugenia stifled a sob. This was the first time she had entered since his death. A death that had resulted in her becoming the sole owner of The Towers!
Stepping on inside, Eugenia paused to look around her. The silence of the large living room was deafening, almost unbearable for her. His absence left such a noticeable void. She felt as though she should hear the tapping of his cane, or the gruffness of his voice at any moment. But only silence was greeting her this day. And how sad that the house had just begun to know merriment, to now be filled with a hushed silence so soon once again. Hearing movement behind her, Eugenia swung around and found Adam standing at the door, frowning in her direction.
"Adam?" she whispered, hearing her voice echo back at her from the corners of the large room.
Adam walked in and stood beside her, taking her hand in his. "I saw you walking in this direction, hon," he said thickly. "I thought you might need some moral support. I'm here to give you that much if you want me."
Eugenia began to sob and half-cry, then fell into his arms. "Yes, yes," she murmured. "I want you. Thank you so much for caring."
"My love, I'll always be here for you. As long as you want. I do care. Deeply."
Eugenia pulled away from him, picking the fullness of her skirt up into her arms. Slowly, s
he made her way around the room, touching the piano, the chairs, the draperies.
"It's all mine now, you know," she said sadly. "He left this all to me."
Adam stood his ground, watching. "Yes. So you told me," he said, taking his cowboy hat from his head to turn it round and round in his hands.
"I can't believe he loved me that much," she said, putting her hand to her nose, sniffing. "But he truly did."
"What're your plans, Eugenia?" Adam asked. "Are you going to move in here? Move away from The Old Homestead Parlour?"
Eugenia gave him a fast look. "No. That isn't in my plans," she answered.
"Then, what?"
"I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few days," she said, sitting down on a beige-colored chair.
"What've you come up with?" Adam asked, settling himself on a chair opposite her, still twirling his hat in his hands.
Eugenia looked around her once again, letting her eyes move upward to the balcony that circled around above her, showing the many closed bedroom doors.
"This house has been empty for way too long," she said softly. Her gaze then met Adam's. "I intend to change that," she added firmly.
Adam laughed deeply. "You don't mean you're goin' to move your girls into this house, do you?"
Eugenia was able to laugh for the first time since Frederick's death. "No, silly," she blurted. "I wouldn't do that to Frederick. He would never have approved of such a scheme as that."
Adam leaned forward. "Then, what?"
"I plan to bring a couple of the girls here all right," she said. "But not to work in the way that they're accustomed to."
"Okay, hon. Explain away. What the hell are you talkin' about?"
"Nell and Iris," she said, tilting an eyebrow, seeing the girls in her mind, full skirted, running and laughing through each room, filling the rooms with life and merriment. "I intend to bring them here to live. To get them away from the only life they've known since coming to Cripple Creek."
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