Luc loved the bayou. Many people got their spiritual energy from church. Well, the bayou was a church of sorts to him. In fact, it even resembled a church in places where the live oak trees on both sides of a stream formed an archlike canopy… not unlike a cathedral. In the ethereal, mysterious gloom, there was an air of spirituality and sanctity.
A warm breeze wafted, causing the barbe espagnol, or “Spanish Beard,” to undulate. The breeze carried the rank metallic smell of the slow-moving water and fish, mixed with the pleasant scents of verbena, honeysuckle, and pine. Nearby, some egrets and herons floated by on their way home to nests where they would roost for the night. In the distance, he heard a series of alligator bulls roar… a sure sign that rain was on the way.
Many people didn’t realize that there was a nocturnal food chain in the bayou, as important as the daytime one. Some of the night-feeders were cat-fish, salamanders, frogs, and snakes. It didn’t take a biologist to witness the big water snakes feeding on small Blue Gills, which fed on Mayflower nymphs, which relished good mosquito larvae, which sucked up the infinitesimal one-celled protozoa. Nature in all its glory!
More calm now, Luc looked over at Sylvie, who stood a good five feet away. She was clearly wary of him in his present dangerous mood. Smart lady. “I hate what you’ve done to me,” he said abruptly. “I mean, I love it, but I hate it, too.”
Her head jerked up, as if he’d struck her. “Huh?”
“Sylvie, I’m out of control here. Everything you do is turning me on.”
“Really? Everything?”
Is that a look of pleasure on her face, or alarm?
Probably both.
“Yeah, everything,” he answered with disgust. “The way you breathe…”
She held her breath.
“The way your blouse shifts over your breasts when you move, and I can see your nipples harden…”
She glanced downward, gasped, and folded her arms over her chest.
“The way your heart-shaped butt swings from side to side when you walk…”
She would probably spend the rest of her life trying to walk in a prissy, tight-assed way. No more shaking her bootie, for sure.
“The way you look at me with a frown on your face and sweet invitation in your eyes…”
She used the fingertips of one hand to smooth the frown from her forehead, and she shut her eyelids, refusing to make further eye contact.
“The way you tossed back those oyster shooters. The way you go all blushing shy one minute, and hot, hot, hot the next. The way you moaned when I kissed you. The way you—”
“Enough!” She put up a halting hand to stop his discourse. “Luc, I feel bad about the love potion… and that’s all this is… a chemical reaction. It wasn’t entirely my fault, though. Nobody asked you to eat my jelly beans.”
“Are you trying to say you’re sorry? If so, it’s the most defensive apology I’ve ever heard. You’ve heard of faint praise, haven’t you? Well, I’d say that was a faint apology.” His lips turned up in a slight smile.
She shot him a glare. “What I’m trying to say is that I understand the awkward position you’re in.”
“Awkward? Are you nuts?” This conversation was going nowhere fast. “Listen, it’s not so much the effects of the love potion that I hate. Hell, I like being turned on as much as the next guy. I might have even taken the jelly beans willingly if you’d informed me of what they were. I’m game for most anything.”
She lifted an eyebrow in question. “So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is the lack of control. I loathe this feeling of being unable to put the reins on my lust or my love… if you can call it that. You really need to rethink the ethics of this love-potion business, Sylv. It’s not fair to manipulate a person who doesn’t want to be attracted.”
She tapped her chin pensively with a forefinger, as if considering his words. “You have a point, except that the love potion was never intended to be given blindly to an unsuspecting partner… even though people throughout time have been trying to come up with the perfect aphrodisiac, with no qualms whatsoever. No one criticizes perfume manufacturers, or lingerie designers, or the makers of tight jeans.” She looked pointedly at his jeans.