There was a light rap on the door. “Sylv? Are you okay in there?”
“I’m fine,” she said, but the words came out wobbly.
“Sylv?” He sounded worried now. “I’m coming in. Are you decent?” He chuckled to himself. “No, don’t answer that because there’s a big part of me hoping that you’re not. Decent, that is.”
She would have smiled at that, except that her lips were trembling.
“Sylv! My God!” Luc opened the door and shut it decisively behind him, then clicked the lock, obviously not wanting his young brother to see her like this.
Sylvie started to weep anew at the ignominiousness of her position.
“What happened?” he asked, sinking down to the floor beside her, then arranging her so that his back was to the wall and she sat between his legs, her back to his chest. Wrapping his arms around her upper body tightly and his thighs around her legs, he attempted to warm her. The whole time he kept kissing her hair and the side of her face, crooning soft words. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here. Everything will be all right, babe.”
At the same time, he attempted to tease her out of what he must consider craziness. “Hey, chère, if you wanted to be alone with me so bad, you didn’t have to go hide in the bathroom. I’m easy. With you, anyway. Are you crying because you’re happy? Please tell me those are tears of joy. Otherwise, I’ll think my lovemaking wasn’t all that super after all.”
Finally, Sylvie settled down. Her heart rate slowed and her body temperature rose, back to normal. Luc still held her tightly in the protective cocoon of his arms and legs. She didn’t tell him she was all right, though, wanting to savor this strange moment of bonding. Strange, because the “bad boy of the bayou” was really rather terrific in a pinch. In different ways, she suspected he’d provided the same kind of solace over the years to his younger brothers and to his aunt… maybe even his half sisters, too.
“Did I do this to you?” Luc asked, sounding appalled.
See. Next, I’ll be revolting him. “No… yes… no… oh, it’s too hard to explain. All through my childhood I got these anxiety attacks when I was put in a situation which my shyness just couldn’t handle. You’d think after all those years of therapy, I would be over it by now.”
“That was an anxiety attack?”
She nodded. “A mild one.”
“That was mild?” He thought a moment. “But what happened to make you anxious? What were you too shy to handle?”
“Are you living on the same planet as me, Luc?” she chided. “I engaged in outrageous lovemaking with a man whose expertise is way out of my league. I exposed my naked body, with all its flaws, to inspection in a lit room. I opened myself up for ridicule by donning this skimpy, flame-red nightie. And I was ogled in all my near-nakedness by a ten-year-old boy who asks very graphic questions. How’s that list for starters?”
“Are you living on the same planet as me, Sylv?” Luc chided her right back. “Number one, if you and I made outrageous love to each other—and it was most wonderfully outrageous, in my opinion—then it was because we make a good pair, not because of any particular expertise. Number two, it was a privilege to inspect your naked body, which is incidentally beautiful; I guess I’ll have to inspect it again a time or two or twenty to find those flaws you mentioned. Three, as for appearing ridiculous in that red nightie, you must be blind; you look hot, babe, and that’s a fact. And even if you did risk ridicule by donning the nightie, and even if I risked ridicule wearing Valentine boxers, what’s wrong with laughing at ourselves? Four, Tee-John is another matter entirely. Ill take care of him, but you gotta know that his behavior is normal for a kid his age. Don’t take it personally.”
Sylvie thought about all he had said. It was sweet of him, really, to try to make her feel better. She squeezed his arms, which were still wrapped tightly around her—a gesture of thanks.