Chapter 1225
They didn’t stay long after that. They knew it wasn’t done with them - but they didn’t need to push. Not today.
Back in the forest, the energy didn’t leave. It followed them, clinging to their skin, curling in their breath. When they reached the river again, it felt different - brighter, faster. The water shimmered with gold threads now, not just blue. And when they stepped into it to wash the sweat and moss from their skin, the river embraced them.
Layla laughed as she dunked under, her wet hair slicked back from her face. "I feel like I’m high. "
"You are," Lucy teased, slipping up behind her to press a kiss to her shoulder. "On love."
Layla spun in the water, catching Lucy’s mouth with hers, their kiss slow and languid. The others watched with grins and soft sighs, bodies drifting in the shallows.
Jude waded toward them, brushing his fingers along Sophie’s waist. "You okay?"
She turned, smiled, and pressed against him. "Better than okay." She kissed him slow, her tongue teasing his. "I feel like the island is finally singing with us instead of to us."
Their kiss deepened, her legs wrapping around him as he held her up. Around them, water rippled and danced as Lucy and Layla tangled together, as Zoey lifted Emma against a tree trunk along the bank, their mouths locked in heated rhythm. Susan and Stella disappeared behind the bend, laughter echoing through the trees.
It wasn’t just need.
It was celebration.
Jude and Sophie’s kiss turned to something more as he laid her against the rocks, the cool water splashing over their skin as he moved inside her slowly, worshipfully, their fingers tangled, breaths matching. All around them, the same. A symphony of skin and sighs and deep, soulful connection. The island wasn’t just witness - it was participant.