Chapter 1421
Rose rested her head on his shoulder, her lips brushing his collarbone. "It’s only starting, Jude. We’ve unlocked something... more."
Sophie lifted her head, her eyes wide. "I felt it too. Like something else is waking up."
"The heart of the island," Emma whispered. "It’s been waiting for this. For us."
Jude turned his face up to the canopy, the stars glittering through the massive tree’s limbs. He didn’t know what came next. But he knew this - he was no longer a man stranded with twelve wives.
He was their center. Their sun.
And the island was listening.
The ground beneath them vibrated with a low hum, not threatening but expectant, like the island itself was holding its breath. Jude lay at the center of them, still tangled in the aftermath of their passion, his chest rising and falling in unison with twelve others. Rose’s fingers traced slow circles on his chest, and Lucy’s legs were still wrapped around one of his thighs. They hadn’t moved far. None of them wanted to. Not yet.
Above, the tree’s leaves shifted color with the rhythm of their breath - gold to violet, violet to crimson, then back again, pulsing like the light inside a heartbeat.
"What did we awaken?" Natalie murmured, her cheek pressed against Jude’s stomach. "I felt something open. Like a door."