The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 132

Twenty-Six: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

They moved me with purpose, pulling me closer to the mountain briskly. It would work in my favor as they knew where to step and what areas of the mountain to avoid.

The brunette had been much stronger than I had expected, and she pulled out the dagger with ease, her body instantly producing a layer of thick green moss to cover and heal her wound. But as she played with my weapon, staring at me with malice, I knew she would not be gentle when she had her turn with me.

I wasn't planning on it going that far, though. While my body was burning up and wetness had pooled between my legs, my mind cleared quickly.

But it was still hard to think about anything other than getting relief, and I had to imagine this was similar to how wolves felt when they were in heat. I could have jumped on anything that moved and fucked it until my last breath. But I knew better. The siren blood I had ingested years ago had done its job.

Woodland nymphs were practically cousins to sirens. They shared enough that my resistance to the siren compulsion helped me keep control mentally even though my body was turning on me.

The feeling of fingers running down my arm made me turn to the shortest of the three nymphs. Her belly was large, with purple and black veins covering the skin. She was pregnant, whoever their last male victim was had done his job, and now the others wanted a turn.

She sent me a wicked smile, licking her lips in a way that made me think she wanted to actually eat me and not just play with me.

"What is a witch like you doing out here? Surely, you weren't planning on taking our toy, were you?" Her taunt was followed by leaning in closer and taking a deep breath before glancing down to my hips with a low ticking noise in the back of her throat like a bug. "Mh, you smell so sweet!"

I wanted to curl my lip in disgust but caught myself and smiled at her. If she weren't pregnant, she would be the first to go. I debated whether to show her mercy or end her with the rest of them. Her eyes narrowed, and she glanced down at the bite mark suspiciously.

Clearly, my acting needed a little work. As her eyes turned to my face, I glanced down at her breasts, licking my lips seductively to distract her. "I like toys."

The brunette in front of me stopped walking, her eyes glinting with mischief as she pressed the tip of my dagger into the pad of her finger.

I came to a halt, the lack of movement intensifying the desperate aching between my legs. My thighs pressed together, and while it wasn't necessary, I let out a slight whine to emphasize my discomfort. They seemed pleased by the sound and smirked at me.

"But do you like pain?"

My eyes dropped to the patch of moss covering her stab wound. Its small movements reminded me of how dirt moved when worms or insects were right at the surface.

Ignorance. Play ignorant, Joselin.

"It hurts. I need..." My hand slipped between my legs, but my wrist was grabbed before I could touch myself. I didn't need shit beyond to take my knives back and to cut out their hearts. But I had a part to play if I wanted them to take me as far up the mountain as they could safely. "Where are we going?"

There had to be caves in the mountain. Somewhere they lived and another where the creature was hiding. Before we got there, I would end them.

There was no way I would let them pull me into their nest without a fight.

I wanted to kick myself when the redhead who had snuck up behind me and bitten me turned this time. They were definitely on to me. I was being too coherent and curious.

I had never interacted with someone under an Oread's compulsion before. My knowledge of what happened from a bite was limited to what I had read in books about them. I had to imagine they weren't much different from a siren's compulsion, but clearly, I was wrong.

"Don't worry, precious. We are almost there." Her smooth and seductive voice made me shiver, and I could still see my blood on her lips. She smiled, her look of suspicion melting away at my reaction to the sound of her voice.

The heavily pregnant nymph stayed glued to my side, twirling my hair around her finger and rubbing her breasts against my bicep as she wrapped herself around my arm. Nothing was less attractive than the smear of green on my arm when she stepped away from the patch of moss and flowers that had been crushed between us.

It reminded me of how Tobias would lick my neck to leave his scent on me. She was marking me, and I could feel the bile pushing its way up my throat.

I kept my eyes peeled for the entrance to their cave as they slowed and relaxed, but as they stopped, I realized there wasn't one. Chunks of the trees were missing, and as the injured brunette stepped up to one, I felt my heart stop.

Her body morphed and sunk into the tree. The bark covered her, leaving the defined outline of her body in its trunk, but it continued to pulse over her stab wound. My dagger was still in her hand, and I bit back a groan, knowing I couldn't get it back without waiting for her to wake or cutting it out of the tree.

I stumbled as I was busy staring at the nymph with my favorite blade, catching myself before looking down and seeing the long white bone sticking out just enough to be seen from the ground.