Chapter 1502
They moved like a dream stitched into reality, bare feet brushing over soft grass that glittered faintly beneath the twilight sky. Every breath felt sacred. Every glance shared between them pulsed with something deeper than lust - though lust simmered there too, warm and insistent.
Whatever the island had done to them, it hadn’t taken their hunger. It had simply deepened it. Refined it. Transformed it into something elemental.
Jude led, but only because the others let him. It was no longer about control or dominance. It was trust. Shared, cyclical. When Sophie touched his back with her fingers, it sent ripples through the entire group, like a whisper passed down a chain of intimate contact.
Emma took his hand. Stella twined her fingers through his other. Zoey’s lips brushed his shoulder. Behind him, he felt the soft press of Rose’s breasts against his spine, her breath warm against his neck.
The forest parted ahead.
Not like it had been forced.
Like it wanted them.
And in the center of the new clearing stood a long structure, grown rather than built - pillars of living trees woven with vines, flowering branches curling over like a natural cathedral.
The scent of jasmine and crushed berries filled the air, heady and intoxicating. Inside, a thick bed of moss and petals waited.
Grace walked forward and dropped to her knees in the moss, laughing softly. "It’s like a temple."
Natalie knelt beside her. "No. It’s a bedroom."