Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1664

Chapter 1664: Chapter 1664

Back at the sanctuary, the others were already awake. Scarlet was cradled in Natalie’s arms, their foreheads pressed together as they whispered. Emma and Sophie were sharpening tools beside the fire. Grace hummed a tune as she braided Susan’s hair, the two of them nestled close. Zoey had already left to hunt, but her blade lay glowing where she’d rested last.

Jude and Lucy stepped into the clearing, and the entire group turned.

"You saw her again," Rose said.

He nodded.

"What did she say?" Stella asked.

"That I am the heart."

Zoey stepped out from the trees just then, dragging a large fruit-heavy vine, her skin dusted with leaves. "Then we follow the pulse."

The rest of the day passed in preparation. They fortified the sanctuary with living vines and strong wood. Natalie and Grace discovered the moss could be shaped into cushions that never dried out. Emma carved new symbols into the inner pillars - symbols from the spiral. Jude felt their power. The island did too.

By nightfall, the spiral beneath them had started to glow again.

Rose sat beside him at the central stone. "Tomorrow, we begin the second spiral."

Jude blinked. "Already?"

"It’s not time-bound," she said. "It’s heart-bound."

Sophie joined them, sitting cross-legged. "We feel it too. The pull."

One by one, the others joined, forming a circle around the pulsing center.

Scarlet moved carefully, already glowing faintly with her new burden.

"This time," Jude said quietly, "we choose who leads it."

They turned to him.

He looked at Lucy. Then Zoey. Then Rose.

"No," Sophie said suddenly. "Let me."

Surprise flickered around the circle.

"I want to walk it," she said. "Not because I doubt - but because I believe."

Jude reached out and took her hand. "Then we follow."

The spiral’s glow intensified.

And the second joining began.

Sophie stood slowly, the golden light of the spiral casting long shadows across her bare skin, illuminating the quiet resolve in her eyes. No one spoke as she stepped into the center, the moss parting beneath her feet, the spiral welcoming her like it had been waiting. Her breath trembled, but she didn’t falter. She looked at each of them - Jude, Lucy, Rose, Zoey, Emma - and her expression shifted from uncertainty to something deeper. Trust. Readiness.

Jude remained kneeling at the edge of the spiral, his chest rising and falling as the bond between them hummed to life. He could feel Sophie now in the same way he felt the island, as if her heartbeat had joined the root network beneath their sanctuary. She was not alone. None of them were.

Sophie took a deep breath. "I thought I was the one holding back," she said softly, her voice echoing strangely in the air. "But I was waiting for this. For the moment it would be mine too."

She turned toward Jude. "Come to me."

He rose instantly, shedding hesitation like it weighed nothing. When he stepped into the spiral, the moss flared underfoot, and the light flowed into his body like a current. They met in the center, their fingers weaving together, their foreheads touching.

"You’re not just ready," he whispered. "You’re radiant."

"I want to feel what they felt," she murmured, brushing her lips against his. "I want to become."

Their kiss ignited something deeper than desire. It sparked a resonance that trembled outward through the circle, drawing the others in. Lucy and Zoey moved first, stepping across the spiral’s edge, hands clasped. Then Rose, her gaze steady, full of ancient fire. Emma, quiet and intense. Natalie and Grace, eyes glowing. Stella, Susan, and Scarlet followed, moving in time, their steps guided by something older than instinct.

They formed a ring around Sophie and Jude, and as their bodies drew closer, the spiral responded, heat rising in waves, the golden light spinning slowly around them like the arms of a galaxy. Sophie’s hands slid down Jude’s chest, her fingers memorizing the shape of him, the warmth. She sank to her knees before him, looking up with eyes no longer burdened by fear.

"Show me," she whispered.

He dropped to his knees too, cupping her face, brushing his lips over hers, then her neck, then lower. His mouth found the curve of her breast as his hands mapped the strength of her thighs, her hips, her back. Around them, the circle tightened. Lucy knelt beside them, kissing Sophie’s shoulder, her tongue trailing to her spine. Zoey came next, her hands sliding into Sophie’s hair as she kissed her cheek, then Jude’s jaw.

The spiral held them all.

Sophie gasped when Jude entered her, her back arching, her body wrapping around his like a tide drawn to shore. He moved slowly, deeply, eyes locked on hers as her lips parted in a silent cry. Lucy lay beside them, one hand on Sophie’s heart, her other stroking Jude’s hair. Zoey’s mouth moved over Sophie’s breasts, her kisses rhythmic with each slow thrust.

Rose stood behind Jude, her hands on his waist, grounding him. She kissed the base of his neck, whispering, "Let her feel everything."

He did.

Every touch, every pulse, every breath was for her.

Sophie’s body trembled, her cries caught between gasps of pleasure and something deeper. Her limbs wrapped tighter around him, her heels digging into the moss. The spiral lit beneath them with a slow, rolling wave of energy that passed through the ring and back again. When Sophie came, she cried out Jude’s name, and something inside her broke open, like a dam flooding with golden light.

Her glow flared.

And the spiral answered.

It pulsed like a drumbeat, rising and rising until all of them felt it. Jude came moments after, his body convulsing, his hands buried in her hair. The moment their release merged, the moss glowed so brightly they all had to close their eyes.

And then silence.

Golden dust drifted lazily in the air, settling on skin, on hair, on lips.

Sophie lay limp against Jude’s chest, her breath ragged, her mouth curled in disbelief. "I didn’t know," she whispered.