Chapter 1479
They moved together - this time not in frenzied need, but with reverent rhythm. Their bodies swayed as one, like dancers in a ritual as old as blood. No words passed between them. Just kisses. Touches. Moans. Each woman took him again, one after the other, in the soft light of the chamber, their bodies dripping with sweat and honey and light. They fed each other the nectar from the vines. They fed each other their pleasure.
And when they came, together, again, the temple bloomed.
The roots split open above them, revealing a sky Jude hadn’t seen since arriving on the island. Not night. Not day. Just endless twilight filled with stars that pulsed in rhythm with their breath.
They were part of it now.
The island.
The song.
Each other.
Forever.
The light above them faded into a rich, violet dusk, and the ceiling of the temple slowly sealed itself again with a soft sigh, as if the island had exhaled in satisfaction. Jude stood at the center of the chamber, surrounded by his wives - his lovers, his believers, his equals - and he could feel the pulse of their connection vibrating through the floor, through the roots, through his skin and into his very bones. Something ancient had awakened. And it lived in them now.
The being on the throne no longer looked like him. She shimmered with every face he’d ever kissed - Rose’s sultry smirk, Lucy’s bright-eyed hunger, Sophie’s fierce tenderness, Zoey’s sly curves, Natalie’s slow seduction. She was no longer separate. She had become them all. Or maybe they had always been her.
Emma was the first to speak, her voice still ragged from passion. "It’s inside me. I feel it... burning."