Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

Natalie wrapped around him from behind, pressing her breasts to his back, her hand sliding down to grip him. "Let us take you," she murmured.

Jude let go.

He lay back into the glowing pool, the water barely deep enough to cover his hips. The wives moved in a practiced, primal rhythm, surrounding him, climbing over him, worshiping him. Lucy sat astride his face while Zoey took him deep inside, crying out as he filled her, her body shaking with each thrust.

When Zoey was done, Lucy took his place. Then Susan. Then Emma. Each rode him with reverence, with joy. Not competing. Not rushing. It was ritual again. A communion.

He reached his arms out blindly and found Sophie's waist. She climbed atop him with fire in her eyes. "I'm ready," she whispered.

"I know," he said, and entered her slowly, watching her eyes flutter closed in bliss.

She moved on him like ocean waves - slow, heavy, rolling - grinding against him until they both gasped. She kissed him hard as she came, and her cry triggered the others, who moaned as one, surrounding them in a chorus of ecstasy.

The pool boiled with golden light.

Then Rose took her place.

She didn't move quickly. She slid down over him with agonizing grace, her body squeezing him like a heartbeat. She rocked slowly, her hands on his chest, her mouth parting.

He watched her lose herself - eyes fluttering, hair falling around her shoulders like a veil of fire. When she came, she screamed his name and kissed him with everything she was.

Then she whispered, "Now."

And the pool exploded with light.

The chamber went silent.

The glow faded, and they were still.

Then from the far end of the sanctuary, a door opened.

But it wasn't made of stone.

It was made of air.

Clear. Shimmering.

The threshold to something they had never imagined.

Rose stood first and extended her hand to Jude. "The island has prepared us."

"For what?" he asked, breathless.

"To begin again," she said.

They stepped forward, all thirteen, and crossed through the veil.

The world beyond the veil was not a place - it was sensation. Light poured into them, not from above or below but from within. It sang in their bones, whispered through their blood, unfurling memory and possibility in equal measure. Jude stumbled forward with Lucy gripping his hand tightly, her golden eyes wide with wonder. The others followed, their bodies radiating a faint glow that made them appear more spirit than flesh.

They walked through mist that shimmered like stars in motion. Time bent here. Jude couldn't tell if minutes passed or lifetimes. Voices came and went - not their own, but those of others who had walked this path before. Lovers. Chosen. Dreamers. Their laughter echoed like wind chimes, and something like warmth kissed their bare shoulders.

Then the mist cleared.

Before them rose a vast expanse - a valley glowing with gold and green, framed by mountains that pulsed with light. A river of silver carved through the land like a vein, and in the center of it all was a structure that couldn't have been built by hands. It looked like a tree and a temple had merged, its limbs forming arches, roots curling into spirals, all alive. All waiting.

"The Sanctuary," Rose breathed. "The original one."

"The others before us lived here," Stella whispered, stepping forward. "Before the forest swallowed it."

"They weren't lost," Emma said. "They became the forest."

They descended the slope, their feet brushing the glowing moss. The wind greeted them like a long-lost lover, curling through their hair and over their skin. As they approached the sanctuary, the trees bowed inward, their leaves parting to create a path of light. And when Jude stepped onto the temple roots, the air trembled.

A voice filled the sky, soft but commanding.

"You have returned."

Jude froze. The others circled around him.

"I know that voice," he said.

So did Lucy. "It was in the pool. In the dream. The first union."

A shimmer of light appeared at the temple's threshold. A figure emerged - a woman, tall and radiant, her skin the color of deep stone veined with light. Her eyes were infinite.

Alara.

She smiled gently. "You crossed the threshold. And now you must choose."

"Choose what?" Jude asked.

Alara stepped closer. "This world belongs to you now. The sanctuary is yours. The island is alive, but it needs anchors. Lovers. Guardians. Dreamers who shape its rhythm. The ones before you faded into it completely. You may do the same. Or you may remain yourselves - and guide the next dreamers who arrive."

Rose stepped forward. "There will be others?"

"Always," Alara said. "The island calls in waves. When the time is right."

Emma's brow furrowed. "If we fade… will we lose each other?"

"No," Alara said. "You'll be everywhere. In the trees. The rivers. The light. You'll feel each other always. But you won't be only yourselves."

Susan's hand found Jude's. "And if we stay?"

"You remain flesh. You guide. You love. You live. For as long as the island allows. Until the next call."

Zoey's voice was firm. "We choose together."

Jude looked around at them - all of them radiant, glowing with power and love and history. "I won't decide alone."

Lucy stepped close, laying a hand on his chest. "We've already become something more, Jude. But I want to keep feeling you. I want us to live this."

"I agree," said Sophie, surprising them all. "I fought it before. But now… I want to walk it."

Emma nodded. "We can be more. Without disappearing."

Rose turned to Alara. "Then we choose to stay."

Alara's smile widened, slow and warm. "Then take your place."

The temple opened to them, its interior a swirling garden of color and light. Vines hung like curtains. Pools bubbled with golden waters. A long bed of moss stretched across the center, large enough for all of them.

Alara gestured to it.