Chapter 1745
Jude came again and again, with Lucy, with Rose, with Stella. With Sophie later, who slid atop him and kissed his mouth like she was claiming her place again. With Emma, who whispered, "I still don’t understand," and he answered with his body. With Susan, who trembled in his arms. With Grace and Natalie at once, their mouths trading kisses above his chest as they took him together, riding in perfect synch.
The stars above them burned brighter.
By the time it ended - if it ended - they lay in a single, tangled mass. Bodies spent, breath mingling. The night had deepened to violet, and golden mist hung in the air, clinging to their skin like a second glow.
Jude couldn’t move. He didn’t need to. They were all pressed to him - limbs draped, arms entwined, fingers tangled. He was inside the circle. No longer just the center.
He was part of it.
Zoey’s voice broke the silence. "What if we never leave this place?"
No one answered.
Because no one wanted to.
The stars above them shifted again, forming a new symbol. A blooming tree.
Then, beneath the earth, the heartbeat began again - deeper, slower, like a promise.
Jude closed his eyes.