Chapter 1358
The glow from the spiral dimmed to a soft, steady pulse, as if the island had exhaled after holding its breath for centuries. Jude lay on his back, his skin damp and slick from the storm of bodies that had passed over him, around him, into him. Every part of him tingled - not just with exhaustion, but with something more elusive. A shift. A pull. A seed of something that had taken root deep in his soul.
Around him, the women began to stir. Not hurriedly - slow, feline movements. Fingers trailing over arms and stomachs, thighs brushing against one another as they shifted, pressed, and kissed again in small, lingering motions. Emma rolled onto her stomach, her breasts pillowed against Jude’s chest as she placed a soft kiss on his collarbone. Grace nestled between Lucy and Stella, their legs tangled like vines. Zoey lay across his thighs, her cheek resting lazily there, her breath warming his skin.
Rose sat up first.
Her skin shimmered faintly now, kissed not just by the island, but by something deeper. Her gaze was far away at first - like she was listening to something beneath the surface of the earth. Then her eyes found Jude, and a smile curved across her lips.
"It’s open," she said quietly.
Jude’s brow furrowed. "What is?"
Rose looked upward, as though she could see through the ceiling of roots above them, up through the canopy and into the sky. "Everything."
The other women sat up slowly, drawn by the sound of her voice. The spiral at the base of the dais had gone still, but its warmth still radiated up through their bodies. Stella placed her palm on it and exhaled.
"It’s like she’s watching," she whispered. "But... not with eyes. With feeling. "
"Like a lover," Lucy added.
"A mother," Sophie murmured. "Or a god."