Fantasy Unlimited

by Claire Harrison

  'Mmm,' she said when it was over. 'That was nice.'

  Josh lifted her chin with his finger. 'You liked that, did you?' he asked softly.

  'Uh-uh.'

  'There's more where that came from.'

  'I know,' she whispered.'

  'Sam...?'

  She didn't have the heart to tease him any longer. There was a question in his eyes that had to be answered, a need that had to be filled, a desire that had to be satiated. 'I love you,' she said softly.

  His lips moved as if he couldn't speak and then he said in a low voice, 'Do you?'

  'Oh, yes,' she said firmly, 'I do.' And, as she took him by the hand and led him to her bedroom, she fully intended to show him just how much.

  Their wedding was small and simple, a ceremony at a church near their new apartment and a buffet reception afterwards. The guests totalled about fifty, including Josh's and Samantha's business partners, his parents and hers, assorted friends and relatives. Josh wore a dark blue business suit, and Samantha a long white gown with a veil that had given her the sensation of floating in a misty space as she had walked up the aisle. For her bridal bouquet, she carried roses, which wasn't exactly traditional, but had afforded both of them the kind of amusement that comes when two people share a small and very private joke.

  Near the end of the reception, Margaret took Samantha aside.

  'Well,' she said, 'I never thought I'd see the day you'd be married.'

  'Was I that bad?' Samantha asked, and smiled as she looked down at her diminutive grandmother. In honour of this wedding, Margaret had outdone herself. She was wearing a gold lame turban, a matching long gown with rhinestones on the high collar and cuffs, and glittering gold shoes. Her face was so made up that even her wrinkles glowed and, when she batted her eyes at anyone, the fake lashes trembled.

  'Almost hopeless,' Margaret said. 'It took some doing to get you into shape.'

  Samantha didn't mind that Margaret insisted oh taking the credit for her wedding. 'Josh is nice, isn't he?' she asked.

  'Hmph,' Margaret said. 'What's quite clear to me is that, finally, you've got a man who knows how to act in bed.'

  Samantha enacted mock-shock. 'Grandmother!'

  But Margaret ignored her. She tapped Samantha's hand with an imperious finger. 'And the way to keep him is to stay mysterious and seductive and alluring. Take it from me, my dear, I've had three husbands, and I know what I'm talking about.'

  Samantha didn't doubt it for a minute, but there was one thing she'd been waiting to ask her grandmother and had been saving it for such an opportunity as this one. 'Margaret, why did you pay Fantasy Unlimited, when you'd cancelled my Greek romance?'

  Margaret had taken a cigarette out of her jewelled case and was now inserting it in a jewelled cigarette holder. 'Why?' she asked. 'My dear, I don't see any point in wasting a perfectly good fantasy.'

  'But who on earth...?' Samantha stared at her grandmother who was casually lighting her cigarette. 'Oh, Margaret, you didn't!'

  'Certainly I did,' Margaret said calmly. 'My Caribbean cruise who have been an utter bore otherwise.'

  And Samantha started to laugh. Laughter bubbled and welled out of her, and it was so infectious that even Margaret laughed and, when Josh looked in her direction, he too smiled and then lifted his glass to her as if he were making a toast. I love you. Silently, he mouthed the words to her.

  I love you, too. She mouthed the words back. Very, very much.