A/N- So I put this story on hiatus for a short while because I wasn't sure if I should continue it or not, but I decided I couldn't leave you guys hanging so I finished the outline and there are about six chapters left, which is considerably less than I originally planned. I'm having so many issues with my inspiration right now, so I hope this doesn't disappoint. I will definitely finish this story. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: The Victory Tour
"I hope you realize that we are doing you a favor by living here with you," my mother told me during breakfast after complaining about how difficult it was for everybody to make the long trek to the bakery every damn day and how this whole thing was a huge sacrifice they were making for me.
"If you really hate living here so much then feel free to leave at any time, mother," I growled.
She huffed. "Well you know what, maybe I will leave. After all, now that you're leaving to the Victory Tour, there's no point in us staying, now is there?" she said coldly.
"No, there's not. But don't bring anyone else into this. If you don't want to live here anymore then you don't have to, but don't kick everyone else out." I glared at her.
"Son, I hope you realize that I would have to leave with your mother," my father said kindly. I frowned, but didn't say anything. I knew that this was more about the bakery than my mother and that I was just being childish, but damn it, my parents didn't even sleep in the same bedroom most of the time, and as much as I hated my mother, I really didn't want to live in here alone.
"Yeah, and I think it's best if we all go back to living at the bakery," Leven mumbled. "I'm moving out with Flora as soon as we get married anyway," he told me. Leven had gotten engaged a few months ago, and my mother was beyond pleased, as Leven was her favorite son. I knew that he would move out eventually, but not this soon.
"What about you?" I asked Rye, even though I already knew the answer to this one.
He coughed lightly and avoided my gaze before replying, "I think Mom's right, Peeta. It would just be easier for all of us," he said apologetically.
I nodded as I set down my fork and wiped my mouth with the napkin on my lap before standing up from the breakfast table. "That's fine, then. I need to get going and catch the train. I guess I won't be expecting any of you here when I came back," I looked around as everyone avoided my gaze, my mother rolling her eyes at me impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah, leave already, or you'll miss your train," my mother waved me off impatiently.
"Have a good trip, son," my father said gently as he stood up to hug me while I retrieved my coat from the coat closet by the front door.
"Thanks, Dad," I said weakly as he patted me on the back. I waved goodbye to my brothers and stepped out of the house, heading straight towards the train station.
….
"We have a big, big, big day ahead of us," Effie chattered on enthusiastically as our train made its way towards District Eleven. Haymitch groaned as he worked on the same muffin he had been nibbling on for the past ten minutes, and Katniss simply avoided looking at me. It seemed like a recurring pattern today.
Suddenly, the train lurched to an unexpected halt as Effie made her way towards the front of the train, coming back soon to announce that the train was having technical difficulties and that this would ruin our tight schedule. She went on complaining while the rest of us ignored her, until Katniss finally lost her patience with her, "Nobody cares, Effie!" Katniss screeched, getting up from the table to run outside, where the ground was full of snow.
Effie's face fell for a second before she recomposed herself instantly to complain about Katniss' bad manners. "I'll go have a word with her," I offered as I stood up to go after Katniss.
"Yes, you do that, thank you, Peeta." Effie smiled at me sadly. She knew that Katniss and I were in bad terms as well. Haymitch simply huffed something under his breath while he continued to pick at his muffin.
I ran outside into the cold, making my way through the snow until I found Katniss sitting by a tree. I headed up to her with my hands buried in my pockets. "Hey," I began.
"Hey," she said, looking up at me with those unfathomable gray eyes of hers.
I gulped. "I'm really sorry about all of the tension between us. I've been acting wounded all of this time because I was jealous of Gale before I even officially met you. I realize now that I was wrong to do that and that the kisses in the cave were something you had to do to save us. I'll stop acting so wounded now, but I would really like it for us to at least be friends," I finished. There, had that been so bad? At least I hadn't confessed my undying love for her this time. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't just a lustful crush. My affection for her had only grown; her absence had made my masochist heart fonder.
"I'm sorry too," she said softly.
"Don't be, I can't blame you for that." I insisted.
She nodded, "All right," she agreed as I sat down beside her, where she was looking up the sky.
"Okay, so let's start with simple questions. Don't you think it's funny that I know that you would risk your life for me and that I would do the same for you, but I don't even know what your favorite color is?" I asked her.
She smiled. "Green," she replied. Of course, I should have known. She loved the woods; it was only natural that this be her favorite color.
"Mine is orange," I offered.
She wrinkled her nose, "Orange? Like Effie's wig?" she asked.
I chuckled. "No, more muted… like the sunset," I explained dreamily as I conjured up a sunset in my head. It was my favorite time of day.
"That's lovely," she agreed. Then, "So I've heard a lot about your paintings, but I've never seen them."
I stood up and dusted my pants from the snow as I offered her my hand, "Come on, I'll show them to you," I suggested. Every victor was supposed to have a talent now that we were no longer forced to work, and I had obviously chosen painting as mine. I was slightly disappointed when I heard that Katniss wouldn't use singing as hers, but I supposed it was understandable.
She grinned as she stood up to take my hand, "I guess I'll also use this opportunity to apologize to Effie," she said.
"Don't be afraid to lay it on thick," I added.
"I won't," she assured me.
We then went inside, and I tried my best not to laugh at Katniss as she did her best to apologize to Effie, going more out of her way than was usual for her. I had no doubt in my mind that she felt like she had overdone it, but of course to Effie it probably seemed like the bare minimum. She accepted the apology graciously, and then Katniss and I moved on to the room where I kept the paintings I had done of the arena.
"You painted all of these?" she gasped in awe, her eyes wide.
"Yes, what do you think?" I asked her, never having showed her my art before.
"I hate them," she frowned as she took them in, perhaps horrified by the goriness and terror of the games, and crept out by all of the images of her. "All I do is walk around trying to forget the arena. How do you remember it all?" she asked.
"I see them every night, in my nightmares," I explained. "This is the only way I can get them out. I keep telling myself that I'm not so afraid to sleep at night. So do you really hate them?" I asked, trying not to sound too devastated. Of course she hated them; what had I been thinking?
"Yes. But they're extraordinary. Really," she allowed.
I nodded. I supposed this sort of reaction was to be expected from her. At least she hadn't asked why I had pictured her so many times; that would have been too much. She didn't need to know about my pent-up sexual frustrations. I led her out of the room and closed the door behind me.
…
My rage started in District Eleven. They never told me anything. But of course they kept things from me, why should stupid, gullible Peeta be informed of the current events? I had broken several glass artifacts when I had shouted this at Haymitch and Katniss. My well-intended actions to help Rue and Thresh's families had only caused more harm. They assured me that they would let me know things from now on, but I knew better than to believe them. They probably had secret dealings behind my back, and I hated this, hated not knowing if my next move would be a major fuck-up or not.
But it didn't matter. None of that mattered, because I couldn't stay mad at Katniss, not really. Not when she let me in her bed every night as the train rode over the tracks. We went around every district trying to convince everyone as best as we could that we were madly in love. Needless to say, this was more difficult for her than for me. I would wrap my arms around her warm, lithe body as I caressed her braid while she rested her head on my bare chest. Something stirred within me when I realized that she needed me, that she could only sleep soundly and without any nightmares when she was sleeping in my arms. I was protecting her, I was making her feel safe.
There was, of course, the matter of my arousal when she would throw one of her legs over my waist. Having her heated core beneath me was too much for me to handle. I would rub my hand over her thin back, knowing that she wasn't wearing a bra and that there was only the delicate soft material of her nightgown between my naked skin and her barely-covered breasts. While she slept and snored softly over my yearning body, I would snake a hand down beneath my shorts and rub myself until I found relief. I would do it quietly and carefully, making sure that she wouldn't wake up. If Katniss ever found me like this, I would die of mortification.
Or so I thought.
No matter how much I touched myself each night, I would always wake up hard, my erection stretching painfully beneath my shorts as it grazed her soft bottom, because by then she had her back to me and I had my arm tossed over her waist. Mornings were the worst, because I hated getting up from her side to nurse the ache in my groin; most of the time it even required a cold shower. But one day, it was different.
It was during the wee hours of the morning, when her back was pressed against me and my head was buried in her neck. I hadn't expected her small hand to wrap around me so firmly. I gasped and moaned in surprise, my body stiffening in response. Was this really happening? Her hand had reached around behind her, but her eyes remained closed, her breath remained steady. Mine, however, had turned erratic. Suddenly, she let go of me, and just when I had thought that the worst was over, she began to grind against me, making my hips jerk forward involuntarily. I wanted to be inside her so badly.
"Katniss, please…" I begged. "Don't tease me like this," I gasped.
But she didn't respond. She continued to rub her ass against my aching cock, and I wondered if I would come. I figured two could play this game. My hand trailed slowly up from her navel to her chest, enveloping my hand around one of her small breasts. She moaned. I smiled. My thumb traced circles over her hardened nipple; I could feel it beneath her thin nightgown. She exhaled softly, and her hips stopped moving against me. I couldn't wait any longer. I flipped her onto her back and hovered above her. Her eyes finally blinked open, her gray eyes widened in shock, the pupils darkened with arousal.
Her hips jerked up, making contact with my groin, and we both gasped. I clasped her hands over her head, "So now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?" I whispered in her ear.
She shuddered, "I came to finish you off, sweetheart," she replied. I could clearly see the mischief and challenge in her gray eyes, even in the moonlight, which made them glint mysteriously.
I grinned. "That's what I thought," I murmured as I reached down between her legs and noticed how warm and wet she was for me.
"Peeta," she mewled as I rubbed over her panties, pushing her nightgown up with my wrist.
I nibbled on her earlobe, my tongue stroking the place beneath her ear as my mouth trailed down to her neck, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses down her pulse point. She writhed beneath me as her back arched up towards me, her nails digging into the sides of my hips.
My hand cupped her center, where it remained between her legs, one of my fingers moving the cloth of her panties aside to allow me better access to the moisture that was gathering there. I discovered that she was completely bare. My finger slipped into her malleable folds, and I thrust it in and out slowly as she bit my shoulder in anticipation. I didn't make her wait long. I circled her clit with my thumb, using my fingers to collect the wetness from beneath and rubbing it on top as I pinched and rotated her nub with my forefinger and thumb. Before I knew it, she was thrusting her hips against my wrist and shuddering beneath me, the sticky substance drenching my hand as she came, gasping and moaning my name over and over again. My eyes lightened up as I saw the effect that I had on her; I had been waiting for this moment for so long. I kissed her rosy lips slowly and languidly, my tongue exploring the roof of her mouth and the back of her throat before I pulled away, biting her bottom lip gently.
"What about you?" she asked, palming my hard length again.
"Not yet," I told her. I wanted to take my sweet time with this. I tugged at her nightgown, bunching it up above her breasts. I bit my lip as I took her in, wishing that it wasn't so dark, but the moonlight was enough for me to admire her perky dark buds, my thumbs rolling over them in relish. I finally took one in my mouth, tentatively stroking it with my tongue as she cried out and fisted her hands in my hair. I opened my mouth wider, taking as much as I could in my mouth, kissing and suckling on it eagerly. Her other mound was being attended by my fingers, kneading and pinching it gently. Her chest heaved as she panted beneath me, and the sounds coming out of her mouth were heavenly. I wanted to make her sing in every way that I could, make her reach notes that she had never attempted before. My mouth switched breasts while my hand continued to palm the other one. I felt like an eager child with a new toy; I could spend all night between Katniss' breasts. I twirled my tongue over her peak, then tugged it gently between my teeth, and she cried out in every louder.
"Peeta…please," now she was the one who was begging me. I loved it.
I descended my mouth down to her navel, my hands worshiping her body as they explored as much of her as I could. My hands pulled her thighs apart and stroked them, my lips kissing the inside of her legs until they came dangerously close to her crotch. I gave her a devilish grin, "May I?" I asked as I hooked my thumbs on the sides of her panties tentatively. She simply nodded. I pulled them down her legs. My cock twitched. She trembled. "Peeta…" she began.
"Shh, it's okay," I reassured her as I kissed her lips gently.
Then my head was in between her legs again. I looked at her once more. "Is this okay?" I murmured.
She sighed, and then nodded as she laid her head back on the pillow. I exhaled slowly, making her shiver as I plied open her folds in the way one would look inside the petals of a flower or peel open a forbidden fruit. It didn't take me long to run my tongue over her, lapping up her sweet juices. As strange as it was, I remembered everything that my brothers had taught me over the years. I remembered the so-called Mellark men Legacy, and as silly as it was, I was anxious to live up to it. But I had never really done this before, and she tasted and felt so good. I moaned, the vibrations making her shudder. "Peeta, Peeta, Peeta…" she breathed anxiously, her gasps coming out short and rapid. She pulled me forward, "Here," she sighed, reaching one of her fingers to rub at her clit. I moaned as I trapped it between my lips and tugged it, encircling it with my mouth and stroking lazy patterns with my tongue.
She was grinding against my face now and the sounds and words she was uttering were completely incoherent, but I thrived at her pleasure. This was my one moment of glory, in which I could suck and nibble and slurp at her as if she were my last meal. Part of me wondered if I was even doing it right, but the other part didn't even care, it didn't matter as long as she felt good. She tasted earthy yet sweet, like the forest and the exotic fruits that could be found in it if one simply looked hard enough. Soon, she was falling apart beneath me, her cervical fluids drenching down my jaw as I lapped up as much of it as I could. I was in the desert and she was my oasis. I was pushing her thighs down so hard that I didn't even register it until I released her. She pulled me up again, this time to her lips as she kissed me hungrily, and I trembled in desire, knowing that she could taste herself inside of my mouth. She snuck her hand down beneath my shorts, and I gasped. "Katniss!" I cried out.
She smiled furtively before wrapping her small hand around my thick cock. "Teach me," she requested. I knew that look. She was determined.
I almost came right then and there, but I told myself I had to wait a little longer. I pulled her hand away gently so that I could pull off my shorts, lying down on my back so that she could see me as I stroked myself before taking her hand in mine. "Like this," I whispered patiently, running her curious hand up and down my length, lingering on the head and spreading the pre-cum around the rest of it.
Her hand felt so warm and inviting that even the calluses on her palm felt wonderful against my heated skin. I rolled her thumb over the sensitive ridge of the head as she looked at me intently. My hand dropped uselessly to my side as I let her take over. I didn't even care how she did it anymore; I just wanted her to touch me, I wanted to watch Katniss Everdeen touching me in the dark as I watched her breasts sway with the effort. I tried to keep my eyes open as long as I could, but my senses were overwhelmed and my head was dizzy from my shallow, uneven breaths. There was no rhythm, just her ceaseless stroking and our unsteady breaths and the occasional crescendo and decrescendo of a promising climax.
I had made her sing, but she was making my eyes roll to the back of my head and my voice was caught up in my throat and holy fuck was she grabbing my balls? My eyes flew open as I cried out, "Katniss that's it oh god that feels so good don't stop, oh fuck, fuck, fuck…" I lost track of all the expletives I came up with, I had no clue what I was saying, but she kept stroking up and down and my hips jerked and everything exploded as I felt the familiar tug from below.
"Gah!" Katniss screeched as I came all over her hand, my seed spilling down unto my stomach as I heaved, sweat pouring down my forehead.
"That was fantastic," I exclaimed as I grabbed a tissue from the night stand, the train bumping beneath us as I wiped us clean.
She frowned, and then smiled tentatively, "You think so?" she asked shyly.
I nodded, "Yeah, we should do that again sometime," I suggested hopefully as I tossed the tissues aside, taking her in my arms and holding her tightly as I pulled the covers over us. I kissed her forehead. "Sleep now," I said softly as I stroked her hair. She nodded and settled back down on the crook of my neck as if nothing had happened, her nightgown still acting as a shield between her skin and mine. I closed my eyes. I couldn't wait to have her hips swiveling over me; burying me deep inside her…it would happen one day, of this I was sure. I would have Katniss Everdeen, I would take her as my own.
The next day, Effie woke us up early. She looked at us suspiciously as I struggled to get dressed so that Katniss' prep team could attend to her. We had arrived at the Capitol.
To be Continued
A/N- I'm not even going to talk about where I wrote some of this chapter…let's just say I write better in public, where there's no Wi-Fi to distract me. Those of you who follow me on tumblr know that I spend way too much time on there. I'll try to be better about my updating, but you know how distracted I can get…oh, the things I do for you guys…
