Chapter 1: Propositioning Peacekeepers
I stand in front of Head Peacekeeper Cray's door for what seems like hours, my heart pounding, the bile threatening to rise in my throat. Unlike other times I have come here, to sell food to the more lax-than-normal Peacekeeper, I carry no hunting bag with me. I am not even in my father's jacket, instead dressed in a gun-metal gray shirt and sweatpants. My hair is long, left unbraided.
I cannot believe I am doing this! But I have no choice. Mother and Prim must eat. And with little luck in procuring game from the woods lately, I am left with no alternative. I finally will my fist to connect with the door's wood.
After a moment, the wrinkled face of Cray appears as the door opens. He blinks in surprise when he sees me. He knows who I am; we have spied each other often enough in the Hob. The surprise morphs into a grin that makes my insides clench. It's more of a sneer, and a leering one at that.
"And what can I do for you, huntress?" he drawls. Cray is also fully aware of my chosen trade; though technically illegal, he has more than once offered to let it slide if only I would grant him more nonconventional forms of 'payment.' Bribery of the highest order, and my pride had always demanded that I rebuff his advances.
Until now.
"I am sure you could do a lot of things for me," I reply in what I hope is my best seductive voice.
Cray blinks in surprise again, before disgusting delight appears on his face. "It's nice to hear you're so….open to suggestions," he purrs, and I wonder if he thinks this is some kind of trick. He glances around us to make sure no one is watching, before opening the door a little more and literally dragging me inside.
I have never been inside Cray's house before. It is as drab and dreary and cold as the man himself. We stop further into the foyer before Cray turns back to face me. He circles a finger in the air and I stare at him blankly, not understanding. Oh, God. Are we doing this now? No talking first? I steel myself to begin stripping, or for him to jump on me. But Cray doesn't move. He repeats the motion again and now I understand what he is saying. Twirl for me.
I spin in a circle lamely, hoping that my bare ability to do even this gives Cray enough of an excuse to throw me out of his house. I have never thought that I was anything to look at, despite coming from physically attractive stock. Nevertheless, Cray seems accepting of what I have shown him and now circles me, examining me from all sides like a zookeeper would an animal. He nods at last.
"Inexperienced, perhaps, but you'll do."
I wonder how he could possibly know this or make such an assumption, given that I know I have had no sexual experiences.
"I am so glad you finally gave in and came to see me," Cray murmurs in what he must think is a sexy voice; it's actually anything but. Yet I dare not laugh. I muster a shrug.
"It's the heat," I get out. "It makes one do crazy things."
"So can liquor from the Hob," Cray counters. He leans in close enough for me to smell the alcohol on his breath and whispers in my ear. "The things I could show you…."
And then, he suddenly seizes me by the waist. My hunter's instincts are to push him away, but it is too late to turn back now. Resistance would only lead to a beating, if not worse.
Finding purchase on Cray's chest for my hands, I bite the inside of my cheek as the Peacekeeper's own hands begin to wander dangerously low. He gropes my bum - quite accentuated in my gray sweatpants - heavily petting, caressing it in one fluid motion before cupping one cheek. Then the other.
Cray bends his face towards mine, and taking a deep breath, I permit him to kiss me.
I learn quickly that Cray is not a gentle lover. There is no tenderness in his kisses, only roughness, the insatiable need to be the one dominating the activities. His tongue is down my throat before I can make a noise, flicking around my teeth and own tongue like a slippery serpent.
I am thoroughly repulsed. I want to hurl vomit. But I dare not pull away. The only girls Cray will take are the ones who are submissive, who are too weak to stand up for themselves and their dignity. And though I pride myself on being both of those at all other times, I cannot now. Not in this moment. I have to play a part, and I have to play it well. But, to help myself cope, I decide to imagine that I am kissing somebody else, someone who I would want to kiss, and be kissed by. I conjure an image of the only man who could ever fit that description. Gale.
"Mmmmm….." Closing my eyes and imagining that it is Gale, not Cray, in my arms, I drape my arms around the man's neck and kiss him back. My mouth bumps clumsily against his, just as clumsily as when Gale and I actually kissed. Then again, maybe that will keep up the ruse that I am 'inexperienced.'
Suddenly, I feel my one leg being raised to the man's waist. Next second, I am hoisted off my feet and I have no choice but to blindly wrap my legs around something, anything of his; my other senses tell me it must be Cray's waist.
Cray staggers forward and I feel myself bump into something hard - the wall - followed by a shattering of glass. Did we knock something off furniture? I cannot theorize an answer before I feel something else just as hard, now against my front.
But it's not the wall this time. It's…..
I groan, changing the tone to be a sexual one at the last second to hide my displeasure. I summon Gale back into my head, so I can pretend to feel something happy as the hard…. thing thrusts against my thankfully still-clothed center.
"Mmm! Mmm!" The sharp squeals elicited from me are involuntary, in time with Cray's dry-humping of me. I am steeling myself to have this taken to the next level when Cray suddenly slows in his attentions to me. His lips part away from mine, and I feel my feet returned to Earth. He releases me fully. I open my eyes.
Cray is looking away, breathing hard so that his chest heaves with each intake of air. I notice a huge bulge in his pants, one that - with each breath - seems to shrink.
I become worried that I have done something wrong, something to displease him. I jump when his eyes suddenly meet mine and he smiles that stupid grin again.
"You're learning. I am pleased with what you have allowed. I would like to see you again, Ms. Everdeen. I want to take you to bed. Tomorrow night. Midnight."
I nod. "Yes, sir," I rasp.
It takes all of my control to walk out of the house and sufficiently enough down the street before I break into a run.
