Chapter 1626

Lucy whispered in his ear, "You are the bond. The flame. The seed."

He cried out as his body erupted again, not in a single release but in many - cascading, endless, a tide that never withdrew.

The golden figure behind him dissolved into light, and that light spread into the sky.

When Jude opened his eyes again, he was lying in the clearing.

The second sun was gone.

The sky was still.

But his lovers were beside him, all of them, curled around his glowing body, breathless, shaking, fulfilled.

Zoey laughed softly. "Did that just… happen?"

"Yes," Rose said, voice husky. "And it's only the beginning."

Sophie rolled onto her back, eyes wide with wonder. "What are we now?"

Emma sat up, her fingers stroking Jude's chest. "More."

Lucy leaned over and kissed him slow and deep. "Together."

He closed his eyes.

And the island exhaled through them all.