Chapter 1351

Rose sat up beside them, her long hair sweeping over her shoulders like silk. "It wasn't just for us," she said quietly. "It was for what comes next."

A hush spread through the group, even the wind pausing around them.

Zoey stood slowly, wrapping a sheer length of fabric around her hips as she approached the flower. The petals responded, turning slightly in her direction. "Do you think it's a seed of her? Of the island?"

"No," Stella said from behind Jude. "It's a seed of us. "

Jude rose too. The moss was soft beneath his feet, cool and damp, a reminder that everything here had been shaped by touch. By desire. By union. He stepped toward the flower and knelt beside it, palm hovering above its glow. "Then do we plant more?"

Scarlet joined him, fingers brushing his. "We don't plant. We share. "