Chapter 1469

The rain didn't wash anything away. It is anointed. It fell in fat, warm drops that clung to skin like sweat, that kissed cheeks and shoulders like tongues, that pooled between breasts and in the curve of hips like offerings.

The moss beneath them pulsed faintly, no longer just a floor of the forest but something alive , something they had awakened fully - through flesh, through hunger, through union.

Jude sat up slowly, blinking water from his eyes, his body still aching from the overwhelming climax. Where the woman had lain was now only petals - hundreds of them, luminous and breathing.

They scattered beneath his touch, sinking into the earth. He touched his chest and felt it still - her mark, like a slow throb just under the skin. Not pain. Not pleasure. Just presence.

"She's part of you now," Rose said gently, stepping close.

He looked up at her. "I didn't mean to destroy her."