The chill of the fresh morning air was enough to make Katniss' skin become peppered with bumpy skin. The faint hairs on her arms and face stood on-end as she shivered, her body rising to a sitting position so that she could move to the window and close the shutter. An open window was sufficient to get them through the night, a time spent with naked bodies intertwined beneath a mess of sheets and a flurry of moans. The shutters closed easily, but a soft, creaking sound escaped them before she could silence it. She hoped that the sound hadn't roused her lover in the bed, but with a sigh heard from behind, she knew that it was already too late.

"Where're you going?" the male's groggy voice questioned, a heavy kind of breath pushing out through his words.

Katniss wheeled around slowly, her eyes meeting the bright blues she found gazing over her naked form. "I was closing the window - it was too cold in here."

His eyes scanned her quickly, noting the hairs raised on her arms and legs. "I can see that." He opened the sheets to her, gesturing for her to rejoin him. Katniss smiled, rushing over to the bed and slipping back into the cavern of warmth in between the material and his familiar flesh.

Strong arms welcomed her back into its loving embrace and, there, she fit against him comfortably and perfectly. She settled down with her own arms pulling his body to hers. She dared not to allow any gaps to come between their bodies for fear that any distance would cost her his presence or, more drastically, his existence. So much had happened since the Games and she had come to need him like she needed oxygen. If it had been up to her, she would have needed him more.

His blond locks were mussed, even in their short length, but somehow he still looked delicious to her. His skin was strong, supple, and firm beneath her touch. A single gaze from her could melt his inner steel, an effect that Katniss could feel as she stroked his back with her nails gently, mindlessly.

No words were needed at this point - all had already been confirmed in their raucous love-making sessions that had carried them throughout the night. Moments like these, the silence filled with expressions of tender gestures and loving glances, were ones that were now common but never taken for granted. All they breathed and needed was each other. The survival of the bodies now synchronized in heart rate and function was the much-needed knowledge to keep them going.

He smiled at her, straight whites revealing his love as his eyes glistened over. Katniss had never seen him at a more emotional level than whenever she was involved. Loving touches and tender kisses could make him shed a tear every once in a while, but she never judged him for being that way about her. She was, according to his own words, his one and only weakness, a fact that he was proud to admit. Unfortunately, his family was far less than proud. In fact, they were ashamed.

After the 74th had ended, his family exiled him, turning their backs on him for allowing there to be a second Victor. He had moved in with Katniss in the Victors' Village, something he was more than content to exploit to the media along with his relationship with Katniss. Their closeness was something that the Capitol was highly attuned to, but he would have much preferred their alone time. Of course, as dual Victors of the 74th Games, privacy was no longer an option.

Leaning forward, his strong nose brushed against the tip of hers while his fingertips gently caressed the side of her face. The close proximity allowed for him to close the gap remaining between their faces. His lips pressed against hers sweetly, the smoothness of her mouth colliding with his, flesh cascading across skin that responded in-turn without being harsh or overbearing.

Morning kisses were different than other kisses. These ones were, in a word, slightly spicy. Perhaps it was the consistency of his saliva or the inconsistency of hers. Perhaps it was just the tastebuds being on-end from a night of parched sex and the salt from their spit being lost through sweat in their pores. Perhaps it was just the morning. Perhaps it was nothing at all. Regardless, their kisses remained stoic and stationary.

Pulling back, a gentle groan rumbled in the back of his throat, and Katniss pulled back a bit to look at him.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked softly, and she responded with a shake of her head.

"Never." Her eyes did their best to soak in his essence. "I just thought about what it'd mean if I lost you."

"Don't. How many times do I have to say that I'm not going anywhere? You are not going to lose me."

Katniss blinked several times. "I can't help it. After all the losses we've faced, it still haunts me."

"Don't let it." His fingers wove through her hair at the back of her head, bringing her in closer. "Katniss, you are everything to me. You are all that I have. I can't and won't be without you."

"But the nightmares..."

"You'll always have nightmares. I get them, too. That won't go away. I hope I can chase them away when they happen, though...but I can't erase them. I wish I could do more."

"Cato," she breathed, her fingers digging into his meaty collarbones with a possessive ferocity as her eyes met his with an urgency that made his heart sink, "I love you. The nightmares can go to hell. I don't give a damn about any of it. Just you."

His grip around her grew tighter and she responded lovingly, his bold warmth enveloping her like a proverbial blanket. Eyelids fluttered closed as breathing became one and hearts beat in syncopation. Together they lay there in bed and together was where they would stay.