Grace whimpered as the tendrils climbed her torso, curling between her breasts before coiling around her throat in a silken loop that didn't constrict - just held her. "It's making love to us," she breathed. "It's… Jude. It's all of you. It's everything."
Jude couldn't move. Not out of fear - but because the power pouring through the grove held him in place like gravity itself had locked on to his soul. The second-born turned her glowing eyes to him, and though she didn't speak aloud, he heard her in his mind.
You planted me with your passion. You nourished me with your desire. Let me give you something in return.
She stood then, slowly, gracefully, her glowing body lit by the pulsing tree. The vines released the women, slipping from their bodies like water, but the ecstasy they'd sparked lingered in every face, every breath.
Then the second-born approached Jude.
