Present

Her panic stricken gaze was like a dousing of frigid water over him. What had they done? He had always prided himself on being a good man, an honest man. Even through the worst times, he still clung to his values, and yet, three little words out of Katniss' mouth had him throwing them to the side like trash. As soon as she had uttered 'I love you' it was as if his brain shut off, all he could comprehend was that finally, after all of theses years his love was reciprocated. The touch of her lips erased all coherent thought from his mind and his body guided all of his moves.

His subconscious was in control, demanding compensation for all that this woman had put him through, and the only thing he could think about while clothes were being torn off was the need, the primal need, that he had to be inside her, to claim what was his.

Thoughts of his wife, his partner, his lifelong mate, were thrown to the side as the girl of his dreams explored his body as if it was her lifeline. Their lovemaking had been hard and fast, years of pent up frustration on both sides driving them towards an earth shattering release. He had dominated her, every which way he could, and it wasn't until after that the reality of their situation finally sank in.

He quickly scrambled back from her, trying to put as much distance as possible between them, and hurrying to pull his pants back up as he crab walked away from her. She sat frozen, her eyes wide with terror as she watched him.

Guilt flooded him in waves, shame quickly following after. He had made a commitment, a promise, to his wife, and at the first time Katniss Everdeen speaks to him he breaks his word as if it was nothing. He couldn't believe what he had done, how had he let this happen? How could he be so not in control of his emotions that he allowed a life changing event like making love to Katniss in the forest happen?

This wasn't just something that he could pretend away, something that he could just file away as a mistake and move on, this was a serious situation that they had entered into, not to be taken lightly.

He stopped crawling backwards when his back hit a tree, their gazes stayed locked in horror as they stared at each other, neither one daring to speak, for then this situation might become a reality. As their breathing returned to normal she stood up, putting clothes back on and straightening out her outfit. He watched her with wide eyes as she struggled to reright her outfit. Neither of them spoke and after she finished dressing she gave him one look, one that he couldn't read, and then turned and hastily left, leaving him in the woods.

He dropped his head into his hands, pulling on his golden locks harshly, punishing himself for what had just happened. Maybe he could just stay out here? Get eaten by a pack of wild dogs and not have to go face the reality that lay on the other side of that fence. But no matter how much he wished it, the truth was that he had to go be a man and deal with the consequences of his actions.

He stayed in the woods until the sun started to set, trying to figure out how exactly he would tell his wife about this. She would leave him, he was sure of it. He just wasn't sure how exactly he could live without her. He slowly made his way back to Victor's Village, a million apologies on his tongue ready to spill forth as soon as he saw her. He was part disappointed and part relieved when he returned to find the house empty. He unlocked the door and pressed the blinking light on the answering machine to hear his sweet wife's voice telling him that she would be working late tonight and not to wait up for her. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair as he leaned against the counter.

How was he going to tell her?

A warm breeze fluttered through the open kitchen window and blew her scent, which was still clinging to his skin and clothes, into his nose. The familiar smell brought equal parts shame and guilt and he quickly made his way up the stairs and into Delly and his shared bathroom. He turned the shower on its highest setting and stripped before stepping into the scalding water, hissing as it turned his tender skin red. After rubbing his skin raw and making sure that none of her scent was left on him he wrapped a towel around his waste and deposited his dirtied clothing into the washing machine, putting more detergent than necessary in to ensure that the clothes would come out only smelling like soap, and not the shameful sex that he had in the woods.

The guilt ate at him as he dressed and went into his studio. He pulled out a blank canvas and some paints, but he couldn't seem to draw inspiration and after about an hour of staring at the white canvas he gave up and got ready for bed. He caught sight of the clock as he climbed into his side of the bed. It was already 11:30 pm and Delly still wasn't home. He sighed before deciding that he would tell her tomorrow before drifting off to sleep.

He awoke with a start, sweaty and out of breath, when he heard the front door close. He rolled over to check the time; 3:00 stared back at him before the bedroom door opened. Delly looked startled when she saw his eyes trained on her.

"Oh. You're up?"

She was fidgeting with her shirt as she avoided his gaze. He simply nodded, guilt swarming him at the thought of what he had done. She quickly excused herself to the shower muttering something about a long day at the office before she shut and locked the bathroom door.

Peeta lay back on the bed, frustrated with himself for being such a weak man. Delly's homecoming had awoken him from a particularly disturbing dream, not one of his normal nightmares, but rather an erotic fantasy that had played out behind his eyelids as he slept.

However the disturbing part had been the star of his dream and instead of the long blonde hair of his wife, he found himself looking down to the scarred tan skin and dark glossy hair of Katniss as she took him into her mouth. He had awoken on the brink of orgasm and his arousal had yet to be subdued, regardless of the fact that his wife had just walked through the door.

He heard the shower shut off and closed his eyes as he pretended to be asleep. He knew he had to tell Delly about his unfaithfulness, but he wanted to wait until morning. With a heavy heart he willed himself to go to sleep.

The next morning he awoke with the sun to find his wife already gone. She had been working longer hours recently and he was frustrated that he couldn't talk to her right away. He went through his morning routine and headed into work, willing his tasks to take his mind off of his situation at hand. He was the only one working today and a few minutes after the shop opened the bell over the door jingled, signaling that he had a customer.

"Be right with you!" He called out as he placed a baking sheet into the oven before setting the timer and going out to the front to help the customer. The person standing before him was the last person he ever thought he would see in his bakery.

"We need to talk." She stated, masking her emotions on her cold face. He nodded and walked around the counter before flipping the sign to "Closed" and leading her into the back room, away from prying eyes in the storefront.

She sat at a table while he leaned against a counter, his arms folded across his chest as he looked at her. Neither spoke, not knowing how to start the conversation. He realized that for once she wasn't dressed in her normal capital fashion, but rather a pair of leggings, a shirt and her father's hunting jacket. Her hair was in its signature braid down her back.

"It wasn't a mistake."

He jerked as if he had been slapped. She looked up to him with pleading eyes.

"It wasn't a mistake Peeta."

He shook his head before answering.

"How can you even stand there and say that Katniss! We are both married for Christ's sake! We made promises, to different people, and we threw them out the window with what we did!"

He was shaking as his voice raised, angry with himself and her for putting them in this situation to begin with. She stood from her chair, fire blazing in her eyes as she approached him.

"Maybe so. But can you really deny that you felt something between us?"

"It doesn't matter what we felt Katniss! What we did was wrong! You made your choice years ago and now you have to live with it. You can just come waltzing back into my life and expect me to ju—", his yelling was cut off as she forcefully pulled his head down to hers, crashing her lips to his.

Her tongue invaded his mouth and he had to suppress a moan and mentally slap himself for responding to her kiss with vigor. He reminded himself how they got into the situation to begin with and he tensed before wrenching himself away from her, his eyes ablaze with anger.

She smirked up at him, her dark eyes boring into his as her hand traveled down his torso before finding his length, pulsing against the restraint of his work pants and giving it a gentle squeeze. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and she leaned up to whisper into his ear.

"Your body disagrees with you Peeta. Next time you want to claim you don't feel anything, remember this."

She gave him a gentle tug before turning around and fleeing out the back door of the shop. Peeta stood panting, confused and ridiculously aroused. His hands gripped the counter as he chastised himself for being so weak. He had let Katniss get to him again, but this time he was utterly floored by the wanton woman who had been in his shop. The woman who had stood in front of him had not been the woman with the lifeless eyes that he had seen at dinner, nor had she been the emotional wreck that had seduced him in the woods. No, this woman had been a tigress, a tease, a woman of seduction, leaving him wanting her more than ever.

The timer on the oven went off and he groaned, the tightness in his pants almost unbearable as he thought about what he was going to do about Katniss Hawthorne because this shit was getting ridiculous.