Chapter 227: Two Favors

The sudden rush of biting, cool morning air hitting her bare, highly sensitized skin acted like a bucket of ice water dumped directly over her head.

Ren snapped out of the lustful trance instantly.

“No!” Ren gasped.

She pushed herself out of his embrace with a surge of frantic adrenaline, immediately creating several feet of distance between them.

Her chest was heaving under the thick fur of her dress. Her face was flushed so dark it rivaled a ripe cherry, and her nether regions were aggressively throbbing, painfully swollen, and dripping with heavy, unfulfilled need.

Ren shook her head vigorously, stepping away from him once more for good measure, putting the fire pit between them.

“We can’t,” Ren panted, her voice trembling with the sheer effort of fighting her own biology. “I can’t.”

A flash of genuine, sharp disappointment flickered in Vex’s beautiful orange eyes. It was there for only a fraction of a second before his customary mask of smug, playful amusement slid flawlessly back into place. He didn’t bother trying to hide the physical evidence of his own frustration; he stood tall, painfully erect, his loincloth tenting aggressively forward.

Ren deliberately turned her attention to the massive fifty-gallon iron cauldron sitting empty on the fire.

“I have to fill that with water,” Ren blurted out, pointing at the pot just to give her eyes a safe target. She gripped the hem of her dress, pulling it down nervously. “Go… go find a mate if you’re so needy! The forest is full of females!”

Vex smirked, a low, rumbling purr vibrating in his throat. “But I want you.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Ren shot back, her voice squeaking slightly. “I’m already taken. And I don’t want you.”

Vex took a slow, deliberate step toward her.

Ren immediately took a step backward, absolutely refusing to trust herself if he got within touching distance again.

“Your mouth says no, Little Rose,” Vex responded smoothly, his eyes dropping to her trembling thighs. “But your body is saying otherwise. You are dripping for me. You want me. There is no shame in admitting it. I want you, too.”

Ren kept stepping backward, her bare feet retreating over the dirt.

“It’s just the mating season!” Ren argued desperately, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m not in my right mind! The moon is making me crazy! Right now, my body is so confused it even wants that tree over there!”

Vex threw his head back and chuckled, the melodic sound echoing through the quiet clearing.

“I am more than happy to take you against that tree, then,” Vex suggested, his orange eyes sparkling with wicked intent. “We can pretend I am the bark.”

Ren eventually retreated until her back hit a large patch of high, dewy grass. She stopped there.

With a frantic thought, she opened her System inventory.

A heavy, ten-inch Lodge cast-iron frying pan materialized in her hand. Ren gripped the handle with both hands like a baseball bat and aimed it at him threateningly.

“I am warning you, Fox!” Ren shouted, wielding her trusty cookware. “If you come any closer, I am going to get violent! I will flatten your face like a pancake!”

Vex stopped his approach, putting his hands up in mock surrender. But the playful, mischievous smirk never left his lips. He knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on her.

And he was right. Ren hated it, but her body was still acting like an absolute, needy slut for him. It was practically begging her to drop the frying pan, abandon her inhibitions and her dislike for the manipulative shaman, and jump his bones right there in the dirt.

The lust felt like a physical, heavy weight dragging down her mind. It was a tangible, magnetic pull that had latched onto her very being, demanding to be satisfied.

’Is this what it’s like?’ Ren wondered, gritting her teeth against the overwhelming urge to close her legs together. ’Is this what it’s like when animals go into heat? This is absolute torture.’

She lowered the frying pan slightly, though she kept it ready.

“Did you just come here to terrorize me?” Ren asked, trying to steer the conversation into safer, less horny waters. “Were you bored hiding in your little hole?”

Then, a thought struck her. She had made a deal with him.

“Wait,” Ren said. “I promised you food as rent for staying in your tree.”

Thee large, green leaf package containing the Island Jerk Elk Bites she had cooked the night before. It materialized in her free hand. To Ren’s pleasant surprise, the leaf package was still incredibly warm to the touch. The System’s inventory really did freeze time; it was like taking it straight off the sizzling cooking stone.

“Here,” Ren said, tossing the warm package through the air.

Vex caught it effortlessly with one hand. His nose immediately twitched, picking up the rich, complex, and incredibly strange scent wafting from the folded leaves.

Intrigued, Vex unwrapped it. Inside were the dark, caramelized cubes of elk meat, generously coated in exotic spices and topped with diced mango and lime juice.

Vex picked up a piece and popped it into his mouth.

His chewing slowed. Then, it stopped entirely.

Vex’s orange eyes widened to the size of gold coins. His three tails, previously swishing with smug amusement, suddenly puffed up to twice their normal size and stood straight up in the air like exclamation points.

The culinary experience hit him like a physical blow. The fiery, aggressive heat of the scotch bonnet pepper exploded across his palate, waking up tastebuds he didn’t even know he had. It was perfectly balanced by the rich, savory umami of the tender elk meat and the bright, refreshing sweetness of the mango.

It was an absolute symphony of flavor in a world where “cuisine” usually meant burning a chunk of meat on a stick until it was black or eating bloody and raw, fresh from the kill.

A soft, euphoric groan escaped Vex’s lips. He closed his eyes, chewing slowly, savoring the incredible explosion of taste as if it were a religious experience.

“It’s… delicious,” Vex breathed out, completely awestruck. He immediately shoved another piece into his mouth, his usual composed demeanor cracking under the sheer power of good seasoning.

Ren let out a proud hmph at the compliment, lowering her frying pan entirely.

“How did you prepare it to have this flavor?” Vex asked, staring at the leaf package as if it were a magical artifact. “I have eaten elk for decades. It has never tasted like this.”

Ren glanced at the sky. The sun was almost fully risen now, painting the forest in bright morning light. The White Tiger Clan would be waking up soon, their stomachs rumbling. She was rapidly running out of time.

She marched forward, walking right past Vex, who was still busy devouring the elk bites with uncharacteristic lack of grace.

“Trade secret,” Ren tossed over her shoulder. “If that’s all, I need to go back to my cooking. You’ve wasted enough of my time, and I have fifty gallons of stew to make.”

Before she could take another step toward the fire, Vex’s hand shot out.

He grabbed her wrist.

“Wait,” Vex said, swallowing the last of the meat. The playful flirtation was gone from his voice, replaced by something much more serious. “I came here to ask you a favor.”

Ren immediately tried to twist her wrist out of his grasp, but she couldn’t break his hold.

“Let me go, Vex,” Ren said, her green eyes flashing with annoyance. “I am not going to do you any favors. You have caused enough trouble for one morning.”

Vex smirked, his thumb lightly stroking the inside of her wrist.

“But, my Little Rose, you have to,” Vex purred softly, leaning in close. “You owe me two favors, remember?”

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