The Reinvented Miss Bluebeard

by Minda Webber

  "Is it like this often between a man and a woman—this miraculous journey of the senses and the heart?" she asked.

  Leaning over, he tenderly kissed her forehead. "No. What we just shared is very special. This is what lovemaking is supposed to be, but rarely is." And he began to prove it to her again, pushing inside her welcoming warmth.

  Eve had been thinking. She had wanted to speak with him about the funding for her asylum. Now that she and he were joined as man and wife, Adam could help her with her financial woes. But his deep thrusts had her mind spinning, and Eve forgot her patients and the committee's decision. Everything was Adam. And afterward, she fell into a gentle slumber.

  Staring at the sleeping woman by his side, Adam ran his hand through his hair. Eve was more than he had ever dreamed. He never wanted to let her go. Although replete from his spent passions and the warm glow of love, he was still restless. He felt the increasing pull of the moon. Tomorrow it would be full. He felt a twinge of guilt, wondering if perhaps he should have told Eve about what he was before they'd made love. He had intended to reveal his shape-shifter ancestry, but his mind had been too occupied with enjoying this. He hoped they wouldn't regret it.

  Slipping on his trousers, he walked over to the large window of the conservatory. Pushing aside a fern, he looked outside, his mind hard at work. Eve had taken the committee's decision better than he had anticipated.

  How he had dreaded telling her. She loved her asylum and her patients, but he'd been able to cheer up her disappointment. This thought pleased him immensely, and had him smiling.

  Rubbing the back of his neck, he thought about the gold Bluebeard had given him. He had already used much of it to buy back the Hawkmore estate in Ireland. It was impossible to help Eve from that particular chest. But perhaps they could move to his ancestral home. Although the estate wasn't as large as the Towers, it was a nice-sized manor and had no bell tower.

  Speaking of the bell tower, Adam found himself staring at a dim light near it. Someone was out there. Was it Hook? Would the pirate captain try again so soon? Surely not, Adam reasoned. He hoped not.

  He knew Hook was going to be a formidable enemy, but he would never prevail. The quicker Hook realized that pertinent fact, the better for all concerned. And if the one-handed pirate didn't agree, then a dawn meeting with pistols or swords could easily be scheduled.

  Throwing on his shirt, Adam went to investigate the dim light. It was Fester, busy digging another hole. Adam shook his head. He had begun to doubt that the leprechaun had any coins at all. He certainly had no sense, as he was breathing heavily, his shirt covered in sweat.

  "Fester, let me help you dig."

  The crusty old leprechaun nodded, a sly grin on his face. "I found me treasure map, I did! Forgot I stowed it in a ship's bottle over a hundred years ago. But I found it tonight." He chortled gleefully. Then his grin faded and his brows furrowed with a scowl. "That daft widow woman cleaned me bottle of its ship tonight. I can't get it back in! I guess it was fortunate, though, since the map was tucked in the sail."

  Adam shook his head in amusement. "Thank heavens for small favors—and deranged widows. So, you hid the gold here? But, a hundred years? That's a long time, Fester. How could you have a map of this place when you lived in Ireland at the time? And all those years ago? It doesn't add up."

  Chortling, the leprechaun pointed to the new hole he was digging, one just to the left of a massive chestnut tree, which was centuries old, its trunk enormous. Inside the large hole was something that glinted.

  Fester swung his lantern over the hole, explaining as he did, "A hundred years ago, I had come to England as a young lad following me rainbow. I met and fell in love with a lovely lass, an elf, and was to be married. Unfortunately, her father was a grand ol' earl and didn't want his daughter marrying anybody who wasn't an elf. He especially didn't want an Irish leprechaun. He had me imprisoned and stole me pots of gold." Fester began scraping the dirt from the glinting object while Adam helped by shoveling the hole wider.

  "I escaped and rescued me gold. But they were hard on me trail, so I buried me pots by an old church and a house with a bell tower, and I drew a treasure map. I got away, but was cursed on me way back to Ireland. That blasted bloody earl hired some wayward witch to do the evil deed, and I ended up asleep for sixty years. For a long time I forgot the gold."

  "And you remember it now?" Adam asked, eagerly lifting what seemed to be several pots out of the ground. His breathing hitched and his eyes had a glazed look, and he stared down at what seemed to be many more pots still in the ground.

  "Right. I remembered only recently about the gold. And I couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd put it. Still, I remembered enough to find me way back here to the Towers. Luckily I'm a little bit mad, so Dr. Eve took me in. She even lets me dig, although it drives her crazy." And with those words, the lucky leprechaun pulled up two more pots and wiped away some of the dirt. Underneath were golden nuggets.

  Adam burst out laughing. The little pots were all filled to the brim with golden coins! He must be living a charmed life—he'd not only found Eve in Eden; he'd discovered the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Flee-Adam Had-Her

  Eve awoke alone in the conservatory, her toes nibbled by the Venus flytrap. Swatting the always ravenous plant, she sat up and noted that she was wrapped in Adam's jacket. She could tell by the sun filtering through the windows that it was probably midmorning. She stretched, then realized that she was wearing Adam's jacket and nothing else. And she recognized another pertinent fact: Adam was nowhere in sight.

  "Why didn't he wake me?" she asked the nearby plant, but it merely shut its trap.

  Finding her discarded clothes, she quickly dressed. Frowning, she shook her head. She could have been caught in the altogether by one of her staff or patients! "Like a regular little trollop," she muttered. Surely Adam had considered that before leaving her. The patients here had enough problems as it was; they certainly didn't need a loose woman for a doctor.

  After such a wonderful night together, and Adam's whispered avowals of love, she had thought she would be kissed awake by a stiff and sexy husband. Instead, she was stiff and sore from sleeping on the ground.

  She sneaked up to her bedchamber to get dressed, then went back downstairs and asked everyone—even Junger—if they had seen Adam this morning. No one had seen hide nor hair of him. Eve began to worry.

  Before she could get overly nervous, she became downright concerned, though for a different reason. Fester ran into the room. He was shouting at the top of his little lungs that his gold had been stolen. At first she listened to the leprechaun's rant with half an ear; Fester's gold was always stolen. Then Fester related the story of his map, and how helpful Dr. Adam had been in helping him dig up the treasure. After all that digging, the leprechaun said, he was mighty thirsty, so he had left Adam guarding the gold while he went into the library to pour himself a drink. He had been so merry that he had drunk the whole bottle of whiskey and fallen asleep. When he awoke, he'd found both Dr. Adam and his gold gone. His face a mask of pure misery, the belabored leprechaun held up a handful of gold coins. Old golden coins, Eve noted vaguely. Then her world collapsed. Fester's gold was real. She was the fool.

  All Eve could do was stare at Fester with a dead expression on her face. Her brain refused to accept that Adam had made love to her and then left to steal the leprechaun's gold. That betrayal was too ugly, and it was breaking her heart into a thousand tiny pieces—pieces of her loving nature, her pride, and her trust, which would never be completely put together again.

  Her fierce Bluebeard pride reared up. She was going to kill him when she found him, and she would leave no hiding place unsearched. The lying libertine had not only stolen her virginity but her heart. And apparently he thought that gold was more important than spending their golden years together. How could she have fallen for his polished charm, and how could she have polished his
family jewels so lovingly, so trustingly? She would never forgive herself.

  She indulged herself by throwing a temper tantrum—and about fifty pieces of her favorite porcelain. The display made Teeter vow the younger generation was cracked, and Eve stormed off in a huff to lock herself in the cellar. There she screamed until she was blue in the face. It felt remarkably freeing. She marked down the process as the I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Iced Dreams treatment.

  After her hysterical fit, she sat down on a barrel of ale and wept until her eyes were red. She wasn't getting enough funding for her beloved Towers, and now this? How could Adam have done it to her? What an idiot she'd been.

  Sniffing, she sat in the dark cellar and found that she hated him. Yes, she despised him almost as much as she did herself for trusting him. She had known just who and what he was—well, maybe not exactly who, but definitely what. The crook had always been enamored of wealth, yet she had been in a stupid, romantic haze, believing that he had grown more enamored of her. How foolish!

  Wringing her handkerchief, she got up from her chair but snuffled some more. She was pathetic. She hated him; she loved him. He had betrayed her and the Towers. It was unforgivable, unforgettable, and just plain despicable.

  The hours passed, and just as the afternoon was about to be put to bed, her fiendish father called on her. It was an inopportune call—for him—for Eve was still in her nasty mood. She had cried until waterlogged and screamed until hoarse. She had bemoaned Adam's betrayal with a shattered heart and wrung hands. Her feelings were bloody, raw, and aching as she left the dark cellar, and everyone in the asylum was walking on eggshells—with the exception of her father, who came strolling into her study with a happy swagger.

  Captain Bluebeard stopped in the doorway, instantly noting the redness around his daughter's eyes. Her despair reached out and grabbed him by the throat, and he felt something he hadn't felt in a many a year: guilt. He didn't like it one bit.

  "You cutthroat privateer! You meddling menace! How could you? You saddled me with a husband whom I didn't want and I didn't need. Only to find out that I did need and want him, wanted him more than anything, even my degree in psychiatry. And you know how hard I worked for that. I'd like to shove your blasted boots down your throat. I hope your ship capsizes in a maelstrom!" She wanted to say more, but felt that if she did, tears would come again. Adam was gone, along with her dreams and trust. "I tasted heaven in his arms. He made me laugh. He helped me and listened to me. He complimented my life and my work. But then he left me and stole Fester's pots of gold."

  Her father donned an aggrieved expression. His expression was one of humility, a look he wore uncomfortably, his legs braced apart, his hands useless at his side. "Now, Evie, all's not what it seems."

  "I was perfectly fine alone. I didn't know what I was missing, but now I do. How could he barge in here and upset my apple cart, only to desert me when I just discovered how much I needed him? My patients love him too. He not only betrayed me; he betrayed them! Poor, poor Fester. How can I ever forgive that?"

  Bluebeard sighed. "So, lassie—you love him," he remarked. Then he opened his arms for his much-beleaguered daughter. After a slight hesitation, she ran into them.

  Her father's arms and stocky body were warm. He smelled of wintergreen pipe smoke and the salty sea. It was a comforting memory of childhood. "How could he leave like this?" she asked. "How could he betray me? I thought he loved me."

  Yes, she had given her mind, body, and soul to Adam. His betrayal would destroy her. Not literally, because she wouldn't lie down and die, but the woman she was—or rather, had been last night—was right now struggling in her death throes. Gasping her final breaths. And what would take her place would be bitter and distrustful, perhaps too mistrusting ever to seek love again.

  "Oh, Da—why?"

  Shaking his head, Bluebeard held her tightly. Awful as it was, it was better to let Eve know the truth than imagine Adam would betray her. "Buck up, lass. Adam hasn't left you. And he didn't steal the leprechaun's gold. Ben's got his hooks in him, I'm afraid—along with the gold."

  Startled, Eve pushed back and stared at her father. "How?"

  The Captain shook his head. "Me spies told me that Hook left his ship last night with a motley crew of wererats. Not long ago Mrs. Holly, the bartender at the Neverland Tavern, came to see me. Her house is near where Hook keeps his landing boats. She saw Hook and his crew hauling a bunch of little pots and a man aboard. Then they rowed out to his ship. The man was bound and gagged, but she saw his hair color. Brown like the earth, she said. She knew they were kidnapping him. Didn't concern her much, since she's seen it before. But something about the man stirred her memory. She said that she thought she'd seen us together at her tavern a few weeks ago."

  Eve's soul filled with worry, despair, hope, and fear. "Hook? This isn't good at all. He'll maim him or kill Adam to pay me back for scorning him—and to pay Adam back for their fight last night."

  "Aye," Bluebeard agreed. "And I'm afraid I'm much to blame. I pushed the competition between the two. I told Hook that Adam might not be the man ye needed, to not lose heart until I could judge. I lied to Adam, telling him that I intended to have him disappear from your life so that you could marry Hook—after a decent mourning period, of course. Afraid I've been hoist by me own petard."

  "Why?" Eve asked, confused, gritting her teeth against the urge to give her father a well-deserved boot in the arse. She pushed away from him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why both men?"

  "I've known Adam for a long time. He comes from a fine family that was destroyed by betrayal and tragedy. Many men wouldn't have survived. Others might not have survived with honor and a sense of humor—not to mention courage. I wanted him for you. But knowing how stubborn ye are, I decided to throw a little smoke into the mix. I also knew Adam is about as stubborn as ye be. If he knew I wanted him in wedlock with ye permanently, he might not have been so willing. I used Hook to make him jealous. And it worked."

  The captain began to pace as he tried to explain. "I always intended for Adam to be your husband, not Hook. Ben would make a bad mate for any lassie, since he can't keep his breeches closed. And his temper's too fierce. I thought it was a sound plan."

  "Aye, such a cunning plan that the love of my life may soon be out of it," she growled. "I never thought the serpent in my own home would be my father!"

  "You wound me, lassie; you truly do. I had only your best interests at heart. I can't believe Hook turned on me like a rabid dog! 'Tis mutiny, I say, mutiny!"

  Eve could tell through his bluster that her father was deeply hurt. He valued loyalty highly, and Hook's betrayal was quite a blow.

  She headed toward the door. Hook was an insane monster—and not because he was hairy or liked to clean too many things, but in the bad way, like being cruel, ruthless, and hating anyone to best him. She had to act.

  "Where be ye going, Evie?" her father called.

  Glancing back over her shoulder, she snapped, "Hurry up. I know you must have some plan to rescue Adam, since you came here. Well, don't you?" she asked in exasperation, her legs braced, her hands on her hips.

  "Aye. That I do, that I do," he agreed.

  "Then let's ready the deck, for this is war!"

  Opening the door to her study, Eve was surprised to find a row of faces. The owners were all milling about the hallway, both staff and patients looking to her for answers. Evidently they had been eavesdropping. She really should scold them, but she didn't have the heart.

  Fester cleared his throat, looking both apologetic and guilty. The guilt was for blaming Dr. Adam, she supposed, not for digging holes in her cellar.

  "We want to help you rescue Dr. Adam," the sometimes starched butler stated emphatically, his head tilting up and down.

  Fester nodded with a grunt. "And it's me gold. That dastardly Hook ain't got no right to it—or to our Dr. Adam."

  "Why did you all eavesdrop?" Eve asked, her eyes narrowed.

&
nbsp; "Because Adam would have never disappeared without somebody taking him," the somber Teeter replied.

  "He lovezzzzz you," Mr. Pryce buzzed, still not quite used to his voice. But then, he had been playing a fly for a long time. "He lovezzz us too."

  "Aye, and he loves ye in his bed, Dr. Eve," cackled Mrs. Fawlty. "He'll have forgotten them foreign women, he will. A fine man he is. A fitting mate for our Dr. Eve. All bite and no bark."

  Eve blushed, thinking of her husband's mouth. As she took a quick peek at her father, he seemed to find the statement good news, for he was grinning cheerfully. Oh, yes, he spotted grandkids on the horizon. He was as happy as a pig in filth.

  "All bite, eh?" the Captain asked. "I thought he might be. Faithful, too—unlike that cur Hook, who I thought was me friend."

  Eve would have felt sorry for her father, but his meddling could cost Adam his life. She would forgive the Captain later, when she knew just how much she had to forgive. Turning her attention back to her patients, she used her firmest voice. "Absolutely not. None of you may come. The rescue will be dangerous, and I don't want any of you hurt. My father and I will rescue Dr. Adam, along with his crew. Only Totter may accompany us." Looking each of her patients in the eye, she stared them down, praying they would do as she said and stay put. After all, they were under her care.

  Spotting her assistant, she swiftly advised him to watch the patients, putting him in charge. "Fester, you can come. It is, after all, your gold," she conceded to the little fellow. He was jumping up and down, hopping mad and not just madly demented.

  Pavlov frowned. "I think I should come too."

  "No," Eve said. "We'll have enough help with my father's crew. Now come on, Father; let's go a-pirating."

  "Er, Evie," Captain Bluebeard mumbled, putting a forceful hand to her arm. It stopped her from storming outside and down the front steps. "Me crew took the Jolly Roger out for a turn at sea. I've only got Stinky Sam and Peg Leg Peggins for help. They're out watching the docks and keeping an eye open for Hook's ship."