Real or not real?
This is the first chapter of why I ratted the story M. I appreciate the reviews and opinions on my mature writing. Thanks and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the following story. They all belong to Suzanne Collins and her Hunger Games trilogy.
Chapter 4: The beach
Katniss POV
Cinna, Portia, Haymitch, Effie, Peeta and I are eating breakfast on the dining car one morning. It's rather warm outside. Suddenly Peeta gets up and points through the window.
"Look Katniss, the ocean!" he says. I get up and peer through the window next to him. I've only seen the ocean in the T.V. It is really pretty. I let out a low "wow" that makes Peeta smile.
The visit in District 4 is the same as all the others. We ride through the district, accept ovations and speeches. Then we say our own Capitol approved replies. Afterwards we change and we have dinner and attend a ball, only this ball lasted to almost three in the morning. Then we return to the train to move on.
We have barely left the district when the train breaks down. Apparently something is wrong with the engine. But this time it will take them almost a day to get it fixed, because they need a spare piece that needs to be brought from district 6.
It's very late so they asked us to remain in the train. Peeta and I spend the last few hours before dawn trying to sleep, but we can't manage it, the night is too warm.
After breakfast, Effie starts complaining about how the schedule is messed up again. So before I snap back at her and get annoyed, I get up and excuse myself. I start wondering and my feet carry me to the car where my supposed designs are kept. I feel someone behind me, it is Peeta.
"What are you doing? Did you have the sudden urge to design a new line of clothes?" he jokes. I laugh. "Oh yes, if I don't express my talent in this minute I might explode," we both laugh.
I like this Peeta, the kind and funny Peeta whose mere presence always calms me.
"So, apparently we have a day off. What do you want to do?" he asks. "What? So you want to spend the day with me?" I'm surprised, I would guess he was getting tired of me.
"Yes, of course" he simply answers. "Have you looked out the window, we are on a beach."
I look pass him, and he is right. We are on a beautiful white sandy beach, and a little farther you can see a turquoise ocean spreading as far as the eye can see. "That's really pretty" I say.
"Yes, it is. I was thinking we could sneak out of the train and spend the free time on the beach." he says.
I'm a little surprise at the idea; I didn't picture Peeta as the sneaking kind. Back home he always stayed in the limits of District 12 like a good boy.
He confuses my look because he says, "don't worry I told Haymitch, they will come looking for us when the train is fixed. They won't forget us, and they won't think we are running away, so we won't be in more trouble with the Capitol. Also the beach is outside the limits of District 4, so we won't run into any people."
I hadn't even thought of that. I don't care if they forget us, I would love to run away and rid myself from the Capitol. But I would never do that to Prim. But I would like to spend some time on the beach and I'm glad they won't consider that as another act of rebellion.
"Ok, I think that would be nice." I say. He smiles and grabs my hand. We are almost at the door of the train, when I remember something and stop. "Wait, I have an idea." I tell him.
I run to my room and I pull out of one drawer a swimsuit I remember to have seen there. It's a two piece, white swimsuit with a small green flower printed on it. I put it on and then I throw on a yellow strapless dress that goes down to my knee. I never wear dresses on my own free will, but I can't find shorts and it's too hot to wear pants. I also grab a towel.
On my way out, I pass the dining car again and I grab some food and put it in a basket. Some cinnamon rolls, a pair of cheese croissants, an apple and a pear, and some grilled lamb. I also grab a pair of sodas and a bottle of water.
Peeta is still waiting by the door with a puzzled look on his face. "I went to get a towel so we can lie down at the beach." I say. "And I thought we could also eat outside, like a picnic."
"Oh, great idea." he says and gives me a big smile. He grabs the basket with his left hand and the takes my hand with his right and leads me off the train.
We walk for about 5 minutes and pick a spot between the ocean and the train, next to a dune of sand that protect us from prying eyes that might look out the train.
Peeta spreads the towel and we sit. He puts his arm around me and I lean in. The sand feels so soft and even though it's warm, the breeze coming from the ocean feels delicious.
Peeta starts caressing my arm with his hand. I look at him and I find myself looking directly to his eyes. He has really beautiful eyes, blue just like the ocean in front of us. Well, maybe a little deeper.
I decide I really like his eyes, but the way he is looking at me is a little uncomfortable. His look is almost like adoration, like he is looking at the most beautiful thing in the world. That is definitely not me. I don't deserve this look.
So I try to start a normal conversation. "Tell me about you, about your house." I tell him. "How was it like growing up with two brothers?"
"Well, sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was hell. There was a time when I was about eight, my brother Troy was ten and Leo was eleven that we got along great. We played a lot, and do almost everything together. They used to take care of me, for example if my mom was hard on me or I was punished and had less to eat that day, they would save some of their own dinner for me." he tells me, I smile at that.
Yes, brothers should look out for one another just like me and Prim.
He continues, "But then we grew up. My bothers had to help more out with the bakery but they didn't like it. So they were in constant fights with my parents. Leo started a relationship with the Taylor's daughter and started to help out in their shop instead of ours. Troy spends most of his time with his friends, and just going to school. Sometimes he helps out on the counter but never near the ovens. So it was my job to help out my dad to bake the bread. I didn't mind, I quite enjoy it specially doing the cakes." he says smiling.
"But it was not an easy job. I had to get up every day at four to start making the bread so it would be ready at opening time. Then after school I had to prepare the ingredients for the next day and help clean the kitchen at night." he continues, "I was tired most of the time, but then there was the fighting between my brothers and my dad. My mom was always on my brothers' side, and somehow I ended up always as the bad guy. Not sure how, though."
He sights, "it has gotten better since I became a Victor, though. Now I have money and my dad was able to hire some help for the bakery. Now I only have to bake when I feel like doing it."
I'm surprised; I always thought he had an easy life, well as easy as you can have it in District 12. I hold his hand and I start playing unconsciously with his fingers. Then I notice a scar in the shape of a half-moon between his thumb and index finger. I'm curious; at the Capitol they erased all the scars from the arena.
"How did you get this?" I ask him. "Oh, I got it from the hot oven. They erased more of my scars at the Capitol, but with baking you always get new ones." he says.
We see a seagull fly by and it reminds me of a song my dad once sung me about the ocean. I start humming the tune. Peeta looks at me. "Would you sing to me?" he asks.
"I don't really sing anymore." I say. "Please?" and he looks at me with pleading eyes.
I sight and I sing him a verse of my father's ocean song. When I finish I turn to him and he takes my hand again between his fingers and I stare into his eyes. His blue eyes look almost tearful, but intense at the same time.
Then he lets go of my hand and catches a strand of hair and places it behind my ear. He keeps his hand on my cheek and then he presses his lips against mine. It's the first kiss he gives me without any cameras around.
I feel the fire awake inside me. The same fire I felt once on the cave. I feel a hunger for Peeta. A need to get more of Peeta. I kiss him back. But that still doesn't seem enough; the fire gets even more intense. So I trail my tongue on his lips asking for entrance.
He doesn't deny me. He opens his mouth and deepens the kiss. I love the feeling of his tongue against mine. I move my hand to his arm and I'm amazed by the size of his bicep. I knew Peeta was strong, but I was not aware of his muscles, at least not like this.
We break the kiss and stare at each other. We are both having trouble catching our breath. He smiles at me and I return the smile. Something in his smile reminds me of Gale, suddenly I feel confused. I start to think about it, but I don't like the feeling so I stop myself.
I won't think about it right now. I decide I will think about it tomorrow. All I know right now is that I want to kiss Peeta again. So I lean over for another kiss. But right when our lips touch, the seagull that flew by a minute ago lands next to us and our basket of food.
Peeta shoos it away, but it ignores him and tries to take away a cinnamon roll. We both laugh. "If I had my bow, we could eat seagull for dinner." I tell him.
"I'm not sure I would like the flavor, I prefer the lamb we have here." he says. "Or maybe even some fish; I'm not a big fan of birds. Not since the groosling from the arena."
I don't want to talk about the arena, so I change the subject. "Do you want to go for a swim? I'm really hot and I would love to cool down in the water." I tell him.
"I don't know how to swim, but you go I'll wait for you here. Also I think that if we leave the basket unattended, we will end up with no lunch." he replies smiling.
"Ok, I won't take long." I get up. Pull off my yellow dress and drop it on the towel. Then I walk the 10 steps that separate us from the water and I get in. There are hardly any waves, so it feels more like a lake than an ocean.
The water feels amazing, it is cool enough to fresh me up, but it is still warm so I don't get goose pumps. I walk a little deeper and start swimming like my father taught me in a small lake when I was little.
Peeta POV
I'm lying down on the towel and I play with the sand underneath my fingers. I close my eyes and enjoy the effect of heat of the sun and the cool ocean breeze on my face. I play close attention on my breathing and try to calm myself.
Today has been the perfect day. I can't believe it, it seems like it is a dream. It has been too good to be real. But it has been real and I wish it would never end. A day alone with Katniss, alone with Katniss without cameras around, what more could I wish for?
No pretending, no agenda, no one trying to kill us, well at least not at the moment. And neither of us is injured. We are actually enjoying each other's company. I feel like a hot air balloon that might float away with happiness.
Getting to know each other is great. I really enjoy talking to her, although right now I wish I could do a lot more than talking. The things that cross my mind actually don't require any talking at all. I'm in love with this girl, and obviously I'm attracted to her.
Also I am only a teenage boy. Maybe I have matured faster because of the Games, but my body is still that of a horny teenage boy. And today she should be arrested; because of the effect she has on me, should not be allowed.
Since I saw her on the train, after she went to change, I was speechless. She never looked more beautiful. So natural and simple and cute. That dress let me appreciate just the right amount of skin while letting my imagination fly on what was underneath.
I stop myself from going in that direction. With a blush I realized I was starting to feel my arousal against my leg. No, I must behave myself. I tried to think of something else, something that could occupy my mind. I think of an old recipe to make raisin bread. Ok, yes that did the trick, at least for the moment.
Then came the kiss. Our first kiss, a kiss that was our own; just for us not the public of Panem. But the kiss was filled with desire. Oh how much I wanted to touch her and carry things further. But no! I'm going to behave myself. I don't want to scare her away, not when I finally have her!
But then she is the one who deepens the kiss. She is the one that starts moving her hands over my arms, holding me tight! Not that I was going to move obviously.
Once again I find myself hard, I turn my hips away from her so she can't notice. I try to distract myself, but it's useless. All I can think about is the girl in my arms, and the fact that all she is wearing is a thin, yellow, strapless dress.
We break apart and a stupid seagull distracts us. But it's ok, I need to regain my composure before we start things up again, which I hope we will. Then she suggests to go swimming, how even does she know how to swim? In 12 we don't have any pools.
But I guess she is Katniss. The girl on fire. The girl who can hunt. The most amazing girl ever, of course she can swim. Maybe there are lakes or streams in the woods where she might have learned.
I don't want to look like an idiot, so I decline her offer and decide to wait for her. Also I could use a few more minutes to recover myself.
But I soon realize that ship has gone. She gets up, pulls her dress off and throws it next to me. She is left in a small white bikini. My mouth falls open and stays open.
I watch her walk to the ocean and get in. Well not her, exactly. I stare at her ass. She has a great ass, and her breasts are just unbelievable. The clothes she normally wears tend to hide her curves. And in the tour her look has been innocent just like at the end of the Games. Never sexy.
But now that she is wearing only that! I'm again painfully reminded by the erection pressing on my leg that she is hot! Extremely hot!
I try in vain to make it go away, so instead I try to figure out a way to do something about it. I can't just start pleasuring myself right here! But I can't let her come back and find me like this!
Maybe if I get in the ocean the cold water will help. No! That will only get me closer to her. Then I remember there are some cold drinks in the basket. I find a bottle of water, well it might help. I pour it over myself, it was still cold so it helped a little, but I'm still hard and now I'm wet.
I take my shirt off so it can dry in the sun. I'm left only in my caqui shorts. I decide to entertain myself by getting ready lunch. She will probably be hungry after the swim.
It will be nice for her to find that lunch is ready, right when she gets out of the ocean all wet. No! Stop! Don't think about her wet! She only brought one towel though; she won't have anything to dry off with.
The weather is very warm though, she might just dry off if she just lie in the sun. Lie in that very small white bikini in the sun. Next to me, within the reach of my hand that could start caressing her skin... No! Stop... Damn too late, I am again so hard it hurts.
I decide to give up and I place my shirt over my obvious arousal to try to hide it a little. I let out a resigned groan and reached into my pants, but of course my luck. Right in that moment she emerges like a sea goddess from the water and makes her way to me.
Damn she looks even better than in my stupid fantasies. Her braid is undone so her hair falls in little waves around her face. She looks so beautiful. I bit my lip hard in a desperate attempt to control myself. I make sure my shirt covers me up and I say "hi! How was the water?"
"Really nice, the temperature is just perfect for this weather. Also it is not very deep and there are hardly any waves." she says with a small smile, she must have really enjoy it. "What happened to you?" looking at my wet hair and the fact tha I'm shirtless.
"Oh, nothing. I just got too hot, so I poured a bottle of water on me" I kind of lie and just add so she doesn't get the right idea. "The sun is very bright."
"You should've come with me into the ocean, to freshen up." she adds.
No, I couldn't because the reason I'm hot is you, not the stupid sun. "No, because then all the food might have disappeared by the time we got back" I say with a smile.
"But now that you are back I might take a plunge, just to cool myself. I'll be right back, so we can eat." I don't let her answer and I practically run to the ocean and submerge myself.
Once in the water I take my cock out and grab it in my hand. It is not like I've never masturbated in a tub. The ocean is just a big tub and right now I don't have any other option or a lot of time. I let my mind run wild with all the fantasies I've been holding up all morning.
I concentrate on Katniss and how it would feel to kiss her breasts and squeeze them. Meanwhile I wrap my fingers around my shaft, pumping it.
I think on how it would feel for Katniss to be holding my member like this. I move my left fingers around the base of my cock and I use my right hand to pump even faster the upper half of my erection.
I'm getting closer to cum. I was already so hard all morning. I fantasize of making the Girl on Fire moan while playing with her nipples and eventually making love to her. I imagine her screaming my name in pleasure and with that I manage to finish.
I stay in the water a bit longer just for good measure and to make sure I'm in control.
Katniss POV
After my swim, I walked back to where Peeta was only to find him shirtless and wet. He said it was because he was too hot from the weather.
I agree, but only in the hot part.
I've seen Peeta shirtless before, in the arena I almost saw him naked. But he was sick then, almost dying and I was worried that something might kill us in any moment.
Now, however, I can fully appreciate his body and damn! Peeta is hot! There is no other way to describe him. His chest looks like somebody craved him. I know he is strong, but now he looks so strong. And his abs! How is it possible that every single muscle is shown? His six packs is just unbelievable.
The most surprising part is that I find myself craving his touch. I want to feel those muscles with my hands and my body, all around me. With this in mind, the flames and the hunger that I'm becoming so familiar with, appear again.
He decides to go to the ocean and cool himself. I put my dress back on. Then I sit on the towel and watch him go, marveling at his legs. His very strong legs. Also I can't help noticing that the shorts he is wearing make his ass look delicious, how would it feel to bite it?
What! His ass looks delicious and I want to bite it! What the fuck am I thinking of?
I have never been one to think of boys. I don't want to get marry nor have kids. I don't want to fall in love like my mother, to be that vulnerable. I never want to have my heart so broken that I stop functioning.
I never want to have to watch my kids being Reaped and watch them being forced to kill each other. That has been my way of thinking all my life! Then why the hell am I fascinated about Peeta's ass?
Ok, let's get some facts straight. I like Gale. Well, I don't want to lose Gale. He is my best friend and I need him with me. The idea of not having him hurts me very deeply. The kisses he gave me were very nice. But am I in love with him? I have no idea.
I like Peeta. He is very nice and we have been through a lot of things together. We have to keep spending time with each other. I enjoy my time with him. I like the boy with the bread and idea of not being with him makes me sad.
Also the kisses we've shared, at least in the cave and right now were amazing and left me wanting more. And I'm fantasying about his hot body. Ok, I'm attracted to him, but do I love him? Again, I have no idea.
Damn, this is so confusing! I put my face in my hands in frustration, and this is how Peeta finds me.
"Katniss, are you ok? What's wrong?" he asks in a worried tone.
I look up at him. His blond hair is still wet and some locks fall on his eyes. The water makes his skin sparkle at the sun light. My jaw drops. Wow. He looks just wow. How come I never realized how handsome he is?
"Nothing's wrong. I just wish Prim could see this." I manage to say. That is a perfect and not so wrong excuse to find me like this.
"I know I imagine she would really enjoy this." he says and gives me a quick caring hug. "So, how about that lunch?"
We eat almost in silence, until he asks me how I learn to swim. Right, he must be wondering about that.
"There is a small lake deep in the woods. You have to hike almost 3 hours to get to it. My father used to take me there; there are water birds that are easy to hunt. Also the place is really beautiful. He taught me there to swim. It is been a while since I've gone there though. I prefer to hunt closer to the district." I tell him. Also I don't like going there because it reminds me a lot of him and how much I miss my father.
"Maybe someday, you could show it to me. I would like to see it." he says.
"Yes, someday I'll take you." I promise him. Although, I doubt that day will come. If we don't succeed in this tour, we will all end up death before I can show it to him. A knot of concern squeezes my stomach.
"What are you thinking? You are frowning, and you only do that when you are worried." he says.
He really seems to know me very well. I don't like it very much. I don't like that he can read me and tell what I'm thinking. I hate it when Gale does it.
"I'm concerned about the result of this tour; there is so much at stake. Also I wish we could stay here longer. I'm not looking forward to the visits to District 1 and 2." I say.
He moves closer to hold me and comfort me. "I know, but I think it will all work out. We've been doing a good job on the tour I believe. Let's not worry ourselves with what might happen. Let's just try our best to calm things down. And about 1 and 2 I will be at your side all the time. Before we know it, we will be back at 12."
He leans in and kisses me. It is a very sweet kiss. He gives me another one on the forehead. And then just holds me.
I'm very aware that he is still bare chest. The hunger I feel for him starts demanding my attention. I press my lips against his with a little urgency. I don't want to think, and this is a great way of not thinking.
He returns the kiss with passion. I want to touch every part of his body. We fall backwards and I fall on top of him. Things are beginning to heat up, when I hear an "Hmm, hmm." behind me.
I get up, and I feel the deep blush starting to spread on my face. I turn around and I find Haymitch staring at us. The embarrassment is quickly replaced by annoyance.
"Sorry to interrupt the make out session kids, but the train is fixed and it's time to go." he says.
I blush again and I start storming back to the train, but he grabs me by my arm.
"Just a minute, sweetheart. Let me give you a friendly warning. You know very well that the Capitol is always watching. The train has probably hidden cameras and bugs. And unless you want to give President Snow a private XXX show, I would suggest you leave the second part of this lovely encounter for when you get back home." he says and lets me go.
I walk back to the train alone. Peeta stays to pick our stuff up and talk to Haymitch. I get to my room and I take a long shower. By the time I'm done, its midafternoon and the train is back on the move. I look out my window and watch my little beach disappear behind us. My little break is over; I'm back in the games.
