Taboo by Leslie Dicken Read Free Book Online

rinse myself.” His warm chuckle echoed in the hut.
    Ariana stood. “Go ahead in the ocean, I’ll clean these at the lagoon and return shortly.”
    She snapped her wings on and carried the dishes over to the sparkling fresh water.
    The serenity washed over her immediately. All tension and concern slipped away like the water trickling over the rocks. Flowered blooms invigorated her with their sweet succulence. Tree limbs brushed along the water’s surface with the slight twist of the breeze. And darting between the bowls she washed, colorful fish played “catch me”.
    “I come here often.”
    Ariana gasped. She had not heard Andreus come up behind her. She set the rinsed bowls on a stone. “Does anyone else know of this place?”
    He leaned on his staff and grinned. “Just you and me.”
    “So,” she glanced toward the line of trees, “you created that boat all by yourself?”
    Andreus nodded. “Found pictures in a few ancient books. Then I carved several hand-held models until I got the hang of what I was doing.”
    “But-but it’s so large, how could you possibly do that on your own?”
    He grinned and hobbled over to the water’s edge. “There is a saying among my people—where there is a will, there is a way.”
    She sank back on her heels as he lowered himself to his knees. He splashed the cool water on his face several times then slicked back his brown hair.
    “Ah, much better.” He offered a wicked grin. “Care to join me for a full bath?”
    Despite the daunting thought of immersing herself fully in the water again, her blood hummed, begging for the chance at his touch again. Yet, his temptations made her return to the Dwelling that much harder.
    Andreus shrugged a shoulder and settled down into a vibrant patch of grass. “It can wait. Tell me instead of your home life. What’s it like living at the top of the Dwelling?
    Ariana unlatched her wings and slid them off. Crossing her legs, she trailed her fingers along cool softness of the water. “I don’t imagine it is much different than yours. Each family is restricted to a certain number of rooms and only one child.”
    “We are too, although the medicine we use for birth restriction must not be as effective as yours for I have one brother and one sister.”
    That would explain why there seemed to be so many more Marimar than Aerotaun.
    She watched a red butterfly flutter past them. “We search for food from the trees. Birds, eggs, nuts, fruit, sap, seeds—they all contribute to our diets.”
    Sun shimmered on his hair, creating a golden halo. He reminded of pictures she’d once seen in a book. A Roman god , the caption read. Licking her lips, Ariana felt a sinful urge to leap from her spot and land herself on top of him. But she did not move.
    “We make our own clothing. Work each day, yet play as well.”
    Andreus grinned. “What do you play?”
    Ariana swirled her hand in the water, where the tiny fish darted between her fingers. “When we are first fitted for wings and taught to fly, we play a game called ‘catch me’.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “It’s simple. We chase one another until someone is tagged. Then that person becomes the chaser. It teaches us skills we’ll need in flying without becoming a boring lesson.”
    His chuckle echoed against the trees. “We do something similar in the water. Although most children learn to swim by the time they are learning to walk.”
    Her brain tickled with questions. What must it be like to live in the darkness of the forests and depths of the sea? How did he go about finding a bride?
    Before she could ask, he leveled a stare at her. “I want to know what you learned of our ancestors. The stories you heard of The Landing.”
    Ariana drew her knees in tight as her heart shuddered. She’d never been told not to mention the disaster that had ruined their chances of leaving here. But, then again, no one ever expected her to talk to a Marimar either.
    She brushed her hair from her