The Rose Garden
All Direct quotes are taken from "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins.
" 'My failure,' says Snow, "was being so slow to grasp Coin's plan. To let the Capitol and districts destroy one another, and then step in to take power with Thirteen barely scratched. Make no mistake, she was intending to take my place right from the beginning. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, it was Thirteen that started the rebellion that led to the Dark Days, and then abandoned the rest of the districts when the tide turned against it. But I wasn't watching Coin. I was watching you, Mockingjay. And you were watching me. I'm afraid we have both been played for fools.'
I refuse for this to be true. Some things even I can't survive. I utter my first words since my sister's death. 'I don't believe you.'
Snow shakes his head in mock disappointment. 'Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen. I thought we had agreed not to lie to each other.'"
That was it; yes, it was hard for me not to believe that it had been Gale's bomb that ended Prim's short life, but I was not about to take Snow's patronizing tone. "Then why even speak?! You are a coward, Coriolanus Snow, you can't fight your own battles so you have to blame others for the things that you've done! It never fails to amaze me just how low you can sink! You are a snake, and I can't wait to lodge an arrow in your heart!"
With that said I gripped the rose tighter and moved closer so that my face was directly in his line of vision. I lifted the rose closer, "And this? Well, I just wanted to make sure that the stench of your mutated creations could strangle you while you die." I turned and stormed toward the door.
"I'm sure it will look very nice." I turned back at his voice and threw the rose down.
"Now you can watch your precious rose die just as slowly as you will." With that, I opened the door and left the stench of his disgusting roses behind.
The hallway was short, and for that, I was grateful. I needed to get as far away from that room as possible, as quickly as possible. I walked past the guards slowly with my head held high. At the end of the hallway, I turned the corner to head back to my room and ran directly into the last person I expected to see.
"Peeta?!" it was a complete shock to see him out like this. I knew that he had recently been doing better, but there was no way for me to know exactly how well. "I didn't expect to see you." As soon as the words had escaped my mouth, I knew I should have said something else. I looked up into his eyes slowly, expecting to see anger, confusion, or hatred. Instead I was only greeted by humor, laughter, and happiness. As I looked closer, I knew; My Peeta was back.
"I didn't expect to be here," his mouth slowly turned up into that smile that I love so much. We stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours, until his lips gently met mine. It was back, that hunger that I had only felt with Peeta; that strong, burning fire that only my lips against his could kindle. I had missed this feeling; the feeling of his lips pressed gently against mine, the fire that burned deep within me, and his warm, strong arms wrapped around me protectively. It was the best feeling in the world to have him back, and this time, I wouldn't let him get away.
Suddenly, his body tensed and he pulled away, leaving my lips burning and my body aching for his touch. I looked up at him to see pain and sorrow fill his beautiful eyes. He looked down at me warily with an apology on his perfect lips, "I'm so sorry Katniss, I didn't mean,"
"Peeta," I interrupted. He looked into my eyes intently and waited for me to continue. "You don't need to apologize." I took his hands in mine and placed them back on the small of my back. "I've missed this, I've missed us. Most of all, I missed you. I love you Peeta, I didn't know it before, but I do now. You're my world, my universe, my soul mate." I took his face in my hands and pulled it back to mine. Everything I'd said seemed to have sunk in because, this time, his kiss was eager, passionate, and desperate for more.
I brought my hands from their place around his neck, to knot them into his golden locks; I pulled his face closer to mine, deepening our kiss as his tongue brushed my bottom lip. Without hesitation, my mouth opened wide to accept him in; as our tongues brushed each other gently, I let out a deep moan. This was soon followed by Peeta tangling his tongue with mine ferociously. He gently pulled his lips from mine and replaced them on the shallow of my throat; he worked his way slowly to my ear, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. "Katniss?"
"Yes Peeta," I moaned quietly.
"Where is your room?" I had completely forgotten that we weren't in either of our rooms; we were still standing in the middle of the hallway, no doubt disturbing some as they prepared for a night's sleep.
I took his hand in mine, "follow me."
We ran through the hallways toward my room. I knew what I wanted, and there was not a doubt in my mind that Peeta knew as well. Tonight, I was going to show Peeta that my feelings for him, and him alone, were genuine.
Once in my room, Peeta pushed my gently against the door, pressing his lips to mine longingly. I ran my hands across the surface of the door, searching for the doorknob. Once my hand closed tightly around it, I quickly found the lock and turned it; we would not be disturbed.
"Peeta," I said quietly against his lips, "I've never done this before."
"Me either," he said, pulling back to look into my eyes.
I hadn't noticed my hands underneath his shirt until now, so I decided to explore. His stomach was so perfectly flat; I closed my eyes out of fear that he would see my enjoyment. I lifted my hands further up, onto his chest; it was chiseled and perfect. My instincts instantly got the better of me; I pushed my hands further up, removing his shirt and throwing it to the floor. Now I could see what I had been feeling; a perfectly sculpted upper body that led down to the mystery of his unknown area beneath his pants, the part that my body ached for. I brought my gaze up to meet those perfect blue pools; it didn't seem to bother him that I was staring, I could feel my cheeks burning with a blush as he smiled my smile.
My eyes darted to those two diagonal lines disappearing into his pants. I allowed my fingers to trace them gently, resulting in a deep moan from Peeta. I looked up to see his eyes filled with the hunger that I felt, I began to wonder if he could see it in mine too. As if to answer my question, he picked me up, keeping my back against the wall, and pressed his lips to mine. His hands slipped quickly beneath my shirt before pulling it off and disposing of it onto the floor with his own.
"Hold on to me," he said as he moved me away from the wall. I did as I was told; wrapping my legs around his waist and clinging to his neck. He moved me over to my bed without breaking our kiss, and laid me down slowly and gently. He remained at my waist, working with the button on my pants. My urge for him growing, I lowered my hands to my waistband and unbuttoned them for him. Once my pants were open, he lowered his lips to press a gentle kiss just above my center.
"Please Peeta," I moaned.
"No," he replied, "I'm not finished teasing you just yet." He broke that smile across his face again.
I couldn't help but smile, his eagerness for his own satisfaction, seemed to dull in comparison to his need to please me; it was classic Peeta, always ready to make someone else happy over himself. "You're really lucky you're cute," I replied, pulling his face to mine.
His hands continued down my hips, pulling my pants with them, "are you sure you've never done this before?" I breathed.
He smiled coming back to my face, "one hundred percent." He pressed his lips to mine in another hard kiss as my hands travelled to his waistband. I found his button quickly, but due to my hands shaking, couldn't manage to release it. His hands were quickly there to assist me; pushing his pants down partially before returning to my face. I pulled his pants down the rest of the way, quickly feeling the coolness of his prosthetic against my skin. Unknowingly, my hand grazed his manhood as it made its way back to his chest, drawing a long moan from him.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize, I liked it," he replied shyly. I rather enjoyed shy Peeta; it was almost like he aroused me more that way.
"Just stop talking and make love to me." I brought his lips back to mine in a moment of desperation.
His hands traveled slowly up my back to the clasp of my bra. I half expected him to struggle with it and felt proud when he didn't. My hands moved to his boxers, I only half remember them falling to the floor and I don't remember at all how the covers came over us. The next thing I remember is his hands slowly down my body so that his teeth could catch the waistband of my underwear, pulling them off like a pro.
"Wow."
"What?"
"Look at you being all professional like." There was that smile again. Okay, that's it, no more playing around. "I need you Peeta, now."
"Maybe I'm not ready to give in to you yet."
"Please," I squeaked. He poised himself above me, just barely touching his tip to my center, "please," I repeated.
"I love you Katniss," he pushed himself inside me slowly. I could feel myself tearing to allow him inside. I let out a small squeak of pain. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just don't move for a second." He waited patiently for me to tell him to go ahead. I pressed myself against him for a moment to make sure the pain was gone. He looked down at me and I nodded. Taking the hint, he began moving inside me again.
It went on for what seemed to me only minutes until the fire began to grow hotter and Peeta's thrusts faster and harder. "Peeta!" I screamed as I released my passion against him. It wasn't long before Peeta met his end and collapsed beside me.
"What are you thinking?"
"That I love you."
"I love you too," he said with a kiss, and we drifted off to sleep in each other's arms; it didn't matter what happened outside this room, we were happy for the first time in a long time and that's all that mattered.