Once upon a time a small town nestled in the dark trees amongst the mountains. The good townsfolk who lived there told their children tales that warned of the perils that would befall the weak and the unsuspecting, for they knew of the marauding packs who dwelled deep within the forest. If you go into the woods, they warned, be sure not to stray from the path, for if you do, then the wolves will surely be waiting for you...

...~...

I pick my way across the forest floor with the skilled silence of a hunter. The trees offer little in the way of cover, the seasons having stripped them bare. The ground is solid and a silver frost still holds in the shadows where the sun has not touched it. The winter sun sits low in the cloudless sky, too weak to provide any genuine warmth today.

Between the trees I spy what I had hoped to find - a lone woodsman felling trees. He stands in a small clearing, and despite the chill in the air he has built enough of a sweat to warrant stripping to his singlet.

I imagine I can smell the earthy scent of his musk from here. As I approach I watch the muscles of his bare arms tense, the ripple across his shoulders as his axe rises and falls. I see the sheen of sweat across his forehead and clouds of heated air as he exhales in exertion.

My quarry is so engrossed in his work that he does not hear me draw closer. I enjoy the sight of his powerful body, the thrust as he welds the axe down and the soft grunt he emits as it meets the wood.

My teeth bare in a wide grin as I smile, imagining the muscles of my prey beneath me, my teeth finding the flesh of his shoulders as I bite down in pure pleasure.

I scan the ground beside me for a suitable twig and then shift to bear my weight on it. Its snap rings out in the muffled silence of the woods.

The woodsman is instantly alert, his head shooting up as his eyes dart to where I stand, leaning against a tree.

His face is full of concern.

"Katniss! What are you doing here?"

"On my way to Sae's with her medicine and a few supplies."

"You should not be out here alone, there are wolves about." His face looks cross.

"Don't worry about me, I can look after myself." I say with confidence, moving my shoulders. The quiver of arrows rattles against the bow that lies strapped across my back.

"Besides, I'm not alone, I'm with you." A smile tugging up the corners of my mouth.

He however looks unamused. "I don't like the idea of you walking to Sae's alone, wait for me to finish this," he nods to his unfinished work and the cart loaded with logs, a large cart horse eating contentedly from a nose bag, "and I'll take you there."

"I think I'd prefer it if you take me here."

A flicker of surprise passes over his face before he grins. He sets down the axe and strides towards me.

I unsling the bow and arrows from my back and drop them to the floor beside me.

"Are you sure that's wise," he says with mock concern, "I thought you were going to protect us from the wolves." His body leans into mine, the rough surface of the tree pressing into my back. Contrary to my earlier vision it's his mouth that finds my neck, his teeth that graze the skin there.

"I'm not sure what it is I should be more afraid of right now Peeta, you or the wolf." I tease breathlessly, tilting my hips to press harder against him, my hands gripping the muscles of his upper arms, still slick with sweat.

He laughs, "I think we both know I'm not the real predator here." But as I observe his hungry eyes as he undoes the top buttons of my coat and feel the warmth of his kisses along my collarbone I feel that I am the one at risk of being devoured. As I inhale deeply, the smell of pinewood, the rich earth and a warm aroma of the bakery, for which he gathers the firewood, fills my senses.

I snake my hand between our bodies until I feel him under my hand, he pushes into my palm as I stroke along his length. Peeta curses against my neck making me grin with dominant satisfaction. Seeing my smug smile, he pushes down my trousers with intensity. Finding my underwear he pushes them down with equal fervor. His fingers slide against where I am already wet and impatient for him. With hurried fingers I free him from the confines of his clothes. He lifts me and I wrap my thighs around him as I feel him hard between my covers my mouth with his, swallowing my cry as he thrusts into me.

The heat from our bodies, embodied in our deepening pants, rises in the air around us like steam.

"Tonight," he growls, "I want you naked beneath me."

I understand that he feels as I do that this is not enough. I want to feel his body laid bare against mine. To take my time to savour every inch of his exposed skin.

"No." I moan, that is not how I picture tonight, recalling my earlier vision of his strong body below me as I ride him. "You'll be on your back, under me."

He curses again as his pace quickens, his thrusts becoming harder. The intensity of the now and the promise of tonight are my undoing. My fingers dig into his skin as my cry echoes out in the still quiet of the woods.

Peeta moans my name before his body, spent, rests heavy against mine, his forehead against the bark above my shoulder.

He raises his head to look at me with those blue eyes of his, more intense than the pale of the winter sky.

"I love you," he says simply.

My smile spreads across my face and he grins back.

As we adjust our clothing he asks again. "Wait for me. Please let me give you a ride to Sae's." This time I nod.

Sitting on a stump in the sunshine, watching Peeta work, I feel smugly satisfied at the success of my hunt today.

When Peeta finishes he lifts me up into the seat of the cart and climbs on beside me. I raise the hood of my cape, feeling the cold as the afternoon shadows start to lengthen. Peeta reaches over to run his fingers across the cross-stitch that patterns the trim of my hood.

"I like this on you," he says with an admiring smile that warms me. He kisses me and then, putting his lips to the edge of my hood, I feel his breath on my cheek as he whispers, "Red really suits you."

Thanks to Katnissinme for beta-ing this.

Okay not quite sure how Peeta managed to miss someone in a big red cape coming towards him through the trees - but it fitted with the whole red ridinghood thing I was thinking of.

No plans to continue this at the moment, I'm still trying to finish my other story - Sealskin.

Big thanks to anyone who leaves a review.