Jude wasn't sure how long they lay there - entwined, breath mingled, skin cooling under the hush of the cavern - but he knew something had shifted. Not just within him. Within all of them. The moment had become more than flesh, more than heat and hunger. It was a rite. A merging. And the island had accepted it.
He opened his eyes to find Sophie watching him. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips still parted, and yet her gaze was sharp again. Softer, yes - but her fire hadn't vanished. She reached out, brushing her knuckles along his jaw.
"You're still you," she whispered.
He turned toward her, catching her hand, kissing her palm. "So are you."
Lucy stirred beside him, her body stretched languid and satisfied, but her brows furrowed in a sleepy frown. "Something's different, though. I can feel it in my chest."