Chapter 2: Under An Overpass

The rain is falling in sheets as Peeta and I drive through the night. We probably won't reach home until morning. We talk all the way along, so it is hardly boring. But eventually, I have to fall silent as I concentrate on the road. The rain is now falling so hard, the windshield wipers have absolutely no effect. At last, I spy an overpass and pull over underneath it, watching the other cars pass by far too fast and far too dangerously.

By now, Peeta is bouncing nervously and chancing glances out the window. I wonder if thunderstorms make him nervous. "I hope I get my grades soon, Katniss. I really hope that my Poly Sci exam went well."

"I'm sure you did well," I wave away.

"Yeah, otherwise it will confirm what I already know: I'm a failure. How have I lasted here for three years?"

I stare at him. "What do you mean?"

"What I said: I'm a failure."

"That's not true, Peeta!" I say sternly.

"Compared to you, I am! You're... you know... wonderful," he fishes for the word, saying it almost in awe. "You're the only one who is nice to me without pitying me!"

I feel my face grow hot as my expression goes wide with shock and I glance away. "Don't make so much of me, Peeta..." I whisper.

"It's true," he looks at me intensely. "When I'm around you, Katniss, it feels like my disability disappears."

I turn to look at him, stunned but my eyes suddenly grow tender. I lean across the seats and kiss him. Press my lips to his in a deep kiss. Peeta moans and I feel him kiss me back. I open my mouth to him and pry his open with mine, slipping my tongue in between the split.

I am soon unbuckling my seatbelt and rolling into his seat, pushing him flat into the cushion of the chair as I move to straddle him. This is it. This is the moment. If I keep my wits about me, I can win the bet hours after it has been set. I strip Peeta of his clothing before de-robing myself.

I come down on him, my vagina sinking around his member. Peeta and I kiss tenderly, our lips disengaging and re-engaging with every collide of our rapidly sweating bodies.

All the while, Peeta is tentative in the way he handles me. Tender. Attentive. Tame. Gentle. As we make love, he always asks me permission before touching me in an intimate area. "Is this all right, Katniss?"

I let him touch my vagina. My bare breasts. As he kisses my face, I close my eyes in abject pleasure and actually beam. As Peeta takes the perky nipples of my breasts into his mouth, I wail out his name and orgasm around him.

Peeta is moaning, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, as if he is still working out just what he is doing. He pounds into me desperately, frantically, with his inexperience clearly showing. But at last, he groans like nothing I have ever heard from Cato as he ejaculates into me. We fall asleep into each other's arms.

The next morning, the sun shines through the windshield, refracting off the last of the water droplets of rain. I stir awake in Peeta's arms, both of us wrapped in nothing but a towel. I look up to see him smiling down at me. "Good morning," I purr.

"Good morning," and when he kisses me, I think he is amazed that I let him.

We break apart, both of us completely naked. I can see that a thin sheen of blood is coating Peeta's member, which is very handsome. I suddenly remember. "Wait!" Taking my panties, I clean his member with it of his blood. Or it might be my blood. Or both of ours. I can't tell which. But at least I will have proof for Cashmere that I have been with him. As I stuff the panties into one of my backpacks, I suddenly get another idea.

There is still blood on Peeta's member. So, pushing him flat and then lying on top of him so that none of the passing cars can see us, I take him in my mouth. I first taste the rusty tang of the remaining blood, which I quickly lap up by lolling out my tongue as I close my eyes in pleasure. Recalling whispers from my sorority sisters, I curl my fist around the base of his shaft and begin to stroke him as my lips and tongues envelop and attend to his foreskin.

Peeta's hands curl into my hair, sinking into my scalp. He begins to moan almost pathetically - perhaps he isn't sure just what this is (a blowjob of the highest order) - and thrust his pelvis desperately into my face. At last, with a cry, he cums. I swallow every last drop of what he gives me and once I extract myself from his shaft, I lick my fingers clean one by one.

Redressing, we drive the rest of the way to District 12 in silence. I drop him off at his place first, before I will turn around and drive a little bit back to reach my parents' house. Rye and Leven are waiting outside, and greet their baby brother before heading back inside as Peeta and I work together to unload his stuff. Back in the drivers' seat, I wish him goodbye. I suddenly dare to pull him to me and kiss him farewell. It's only fair. "Have a great summer."

I only start crying for reasons that I do not yet know when his house is in the rearview mirror.