Her Beasts

Playing With Fire

Iris couldn't even really admit it to herself yet, but she quite liked this flirty fox. The fact that he had helped her in her culinary pursuits was only that much more reason to accept his invitation.

"Thank you so much, Basil! You're a real lifesaver!"

Iris's smile made Basil's heart skip a beat. His eyes began to crinkle around the edges as a gentle smile formed on his lips. Basil was overjoyed! His favored female was willing to accept his invitation to dinner. Basil couldn't be happier.

Caspian sighed, but decided that he should just make peace with it. He quickly excused himself by announcing that he was going hunting for their dinner. While it wasn't ideal to leave Iris alone with a single male, Caspian needed the space. Besides, Basil was still a witch doctor and he had a reputation to uphold.

Basil was quite happy to have Iris all to himself. While he was not going to stay away from flirting with Iris regardless of who was watching, this was still a golden opportunity! Basil was sure he could learn more about Iris and show her just how capable he was. Plus, now he would have the opportunity to flirt at his hearts' content!

"Oh, by the way, I should return this to you."

Iris pulled the stone box she had received honey in out of her beast skin bag. She had finished the last of the honey a few weeks ago and was wanting to return the box to Basil. It was such a lovely box that she was sure he would want it back.

Basil leaned in to take the box from Iris, letting his warm fingers linger on hers for just a moment longer than necessary. Iris was surprised by how soft and warm his hands felt. The brief thought of what they would feel like on her bare skin flashed through her mind and she blushed, looking away from Basil's piercing gaze.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to return the container. It was my gift to you."

Basil's warm chuckle sent a shiver down Iris's spine as she felt her heart race. Iris was starting to wish Caspian was still here. She was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed and craved his familiar embrace.

"I'm going to get the hearth set up for cooking. You can follow me if you'd like."

Basil stood up, offering Iris his hand to help her up. Iris accepted his offer, secretly relishing his touch. She followed Basil into the next room where she found a hearth built into the wall.

The hearth had an opening at the top and grooves set into the sides of the wall that a wooden spit could be set into. In another corner of the room was a stone bed covered in beast skins. Iris blushed as she realized she was actually in Basil's bedroom.

Basil smirked as he noticed he was having a rather noticeable effect on Iris. He was tempted to tease her about it, but he bit his tongue. He didn't want to ruin the good thing he had going.

"You can rest on the bed, I'll be back. I need to get firewood and some water for us to cook with. If you stay in here, no one will disturb you."

Basil practically ran to the river full speed as he filled up several clay pots with water. He then tried to hurriedly catch his breath as he fetched firewood from his storage room. By the time he returned to Iris's side, he was breathing normally. Only his slightly flushed face would give him away.

Iris was entirely too unwilling to relax in Basil's bed. She wasn't aware of his feelings for her and did not want to put herself in an awkward situation if Caspian came back first. Instead, she spread a spare animal hide out on the floor in front of the fireplace.

When Basil saw Iris sitting on the floor he felt disappointed that she refused his hospitality. Still, he just shrugged it off as he kneeled on the ground beside her and began to prepare a fire. The entire time, he made his tail swish from side to side, casually rubbing it against the side of Iris's leg as he did so.

Iris was like a cat as she was teased with Basil's tail. She wanted nothing more than to pounce on it and rub its softness against her face. However, if the potential embarrassment was enough to prevent her from doing so with Holly, then it was certainly enough to stop her now.

Iris didn't want to ruin her relationship with Basil as he was far too interesting. He was quite helpful in helping her obtain new seasonings as well as being enjoyable to talk with. Iris was grateful when Basil struck up a conversation.

"I'm not sure how you usually like your food prepared, but I'd be happy to cook for you, if you'd like. Your mate should be back soon enough, but I can make us some tea for now."

Iris smiled sweetly at Basil. She was a little curious how the food he usually made would taste. However, she was quite hesitant since she knew Caspian struggled so much to even make edible food at first. Even now his food was still lacking compared to hers and Iris was often picky about her quality of food.

"I do most of the cooking at home other than when Caspian makes soup. I don't necessarily want to refuse your hospitality but I am quite picky about my food..."

Learning that Iris was the one who most often cooked in her household, Basil felt it would be a shame not to take the opportunity to impress her with his abilities. Thus he decided to make the most of the opportunity as he offered,

"I'd love to learn how you cook, but perhaps we could make things interesting. We can each cook half of the food and the winner will get a gift from the loser, deal?"

Iris felt her fighting spirit arise as she heard his words. She began to feel her excitement grow as she agreed to his offer. Luckily, she had a small selection of herbs and spices in her bag she could use to prepare the food.

When Caspian came back he found the two acting playful as they sipped hot cups of red clover and sweet root tea. Thankfully, he had been able to settle things in his heart. He was now willing to accept the challenge of accepting the vixen into their family if that was what Iris wanted.

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