Chapter 1633
Sophie stepped closer to the center of the room, where a basin of liquid light hovered above the moss. She extended her hand toward it, and the moment her fingers dipped into the glow, the entire chamber sighed. The walls shimmered, revealing translucent shapes moving beneath the surface - visions of themselves. Dancing. Kissing. Moaning. Spiraling together in endless combinations of intimacy and affection.
Emma stared in awe. "That’s... us."
"It’s all the ways we’ve been," Grace said softly, reaching for Stella’s hand. "Every touch. Every kiss. Every time he held us like we were the only one."
"And none of them were the same," Natalie added, her voice trembling. "Not once."
Zoey stepped up to the basin, dragging her fingers through the light. Her breath caught as it responded - showing her straddled over Jude in the forest, her mouth open, her body arched, her hands gripping his chest as the sky flared above them.
Susan touched the edge next, and the glow shifted again - to her, pressed against him in the treehouse, whispering her surrender into his ear as he filled her slowly, deeply, completely.
Scarlet tilted her head and smirked. "So it’s a memory pool. A really, really sexy one."
Jude watched them, his heart full and aching. He wasn’t just remembering. He was feeling . Every moan, every gasp, every thrust - the way Lucy had trembled when he first kissed her, the heat of Zoey’s nails down his back, the soft catch in Sophie’s breath as she’d let go for the first time. It all lived here now.
The basin pulsed once more.
Then the tree began to open.
Vines uncoiled overhead, spiraling upward until a pathway revealed itself - narrow and glowing, curling like a staircase of light toward something higher. Without a word, they began to climb. Jude led them, hand in hand with Rose, Lucy at his other side. The rest followed, silent but sure, their bodies brushing, skin to skin, the heat rising with each step.