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Sitting in the cave looking at him, she couldn't help but wonder why he'd come back. There were two other Careers in the arena that he was neglecting by being around her. Careers that would start asking questions and likely kill her or further enslave her should they discover her connection to Cato.
It wasn't that she minded being around him, really. At least aside from his brash, ruthless moments he was rather intelligent and she'd hate to have to go up against him in a fight that actually ended in death. If they ran into another Tribute, he'd certainly be useful.
She still couldn't understand why he hadn't ended her the day she'd returned his token, which now hung like a constant, maddening reminder of her inexplicable escape around his neck.
It could be a play for sponsors, she decided. Maybe they liked seeing him confuse and disarm his imminent prey. Or maybe since there were fewer Careers the others had stopped taking his orders. That was unlikely, though. He really was their leader, whether they all liked it or not.
Her gaze fell on his face, onto the sharp contours and deep blue eyes. It traced over full lips, a strong jawline.
"What?" he finally asked, looking at her oddly. It was then that she realized she'd not only been caught staring, but staring for awhile. "What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?!"
She hesitated, not wanting him to realize what had crossed her mind.
"Seriously."
"I...I was just thinking. It's not important." She could already feel the blush spreading on her cheeks as she realized with horror that she had definitely been caught.
He stepped closer again, and it was as if he was torn between frustration and amusement. "Alright," he murmured, eyes glinting mischievously. "We'll just have a few tests to figure it out. You're a terrible liar, I hope you know."
She frowned at him, and he chuckled. "Let's see...were you thinking about me?"
Even as she scrambled to deny it, she could feel an even more traitorous blush spreading over her. "N-no!"
He smirked. "Of course you weren't. But since you were not thinking about me, were you not thinking something...traitorous?"
Damn. It was as if he'd pulled the word right from her mind. "To you or me?" she muttered darkly.
"Me, naturally. Your loyalty to yourself isn't my problem."
"Then no."
He raised an eyebrow as he caught that truth. "Hmm...what could little Evania be thinking that is about me, and causes her to betray herself?" he made a mockery of pondering it. "Ah! Ev', don't feel too bad. I get that reaction a lot."
She scowled. "Then you'll have no trouble ignoring it from me."
He stepped closer, close enough that she could smell him—a heady mixture of sweat, metal and forest that made her swoon slightly.
"That's true. I can easily ignore the issues of other people. What they want is of little concern to me." His eyes met hers, a fiery tone taking to the icy hue. "However, I cannot ignore what I want."
And in the next second, Cato had swooped in, planted his lips on hers, and pinned her to the cave wall.
In that moment, she was fairly certain that she was dead. The real Cato would never act this way with her.
It was pure heaven to feel his solid, massive form lined up against hers, to have the delicious duality between them shown—his rock-hard abs against her soft belly; his firm chest against her breasts; his callused fingers securing themselves onto her hips.
His lips were effortlessly moving with hers for some time before she felt a soft nip on her bottom lip that registered immediately in her scattered brain. She gasped in surprise and delight, and she felt his lips twist into a smirk even as his tongue swept past her lips, no longer kissing. This was more akin to claiming than anything.
After awhile of this she could no longer fight the urge to try to turn the tables. He let out a shocked grunt as she shifted, fisting her hand into his hair in an attempt to gain leverage.
After a moment's struggle, he relented, allowing her to venture inside his mouth with her tongue.
It seemed like waking up when they finally pulled apart, blinking at each other in appreciative surprise, swollen lips tingling, and—in her case, at least—lower stomach stirring curiously.
"Wow...you really did know just what I was thinking...sort of." Her blush returned as she realized she'd admitted it out loud, and she found it hard to meet his eyes.
He laughed. "Of course I did. I've seen that look plenty of times."
All of a sudden, it was as if an icy—yet burning—hand had seized her heart, and it was squeezing it sadistically. The thought of him doing that with several other girls made her feel used, and killed any belief that she might somehow be special that had been born in the past few moments. It was almost nauseating.
Her gaze abruptly turned to their food supply, which was worrisome for her; Cato still ate like the Cornucopia's spoils were a convenient few yards away, not destroyed by Katniss. She strode to the end of the cave, snatching up Cato's emptied pack; it was bigger than hers.
A strong grip on her arm forced her to a stop. "What are you doing?"
"Going to find food," she snapped, glaring at him.
Sensing her rage, he released her arm. She blinked a few times in surprise, but could tell that such behavior would not be would not go unpunished should it show up again.
The sun was hot as she made her careful way down through a small clearing in the densest woods within a reasonable distance from the cave. The apple tree she'd robbed before was completely gone, and it seemed that there were no others like it.
Something red caught her eye, and she suspected it to be blood—until she saw the familiar leaves of a strawberry plant.
Hardly believing her luck, she fell to her knees, hastily opening the empty pack she was lugging. Half of the bag was full before there were no more. But the great mound of promise was enough, far more than she ever expected. Strawberries were full of sugar, not to mention a tasty treat that reminded her of home.
On the return trek, she noticed another thing that took her by surprise, and it seemed almost as good as the strawberries.
But by the time she returned to the cave, Cato had already retrieved the silver parachute and opened its container, regardless of the glaring '10' marking it.
"Hey!"
He didn't turn towards her demanding shouts, at least not at first. "Cato!" she finally snapped, and he glanced over warily.
"What?"
"You opened my sponsor gift!"
He snorted. "It was hardly worth the trouble of retrieving the damn thing from outside."
"Where is it now?!" she demanded angrily.
He tossed something towards her, and she barely caught it before it slammed into her face. Forcing back her fury at his—Cato-ness—she took a look at what she'd caught, a huge smile stretching across her face. "Oh! Thank you!" she gasped toward the camera, eagerly unscrewing the cap on the plastic bottle.
"What is it, anyway?"
She took a moment to answer, happily smearing the green substance over her peeling face, arms and shoulders. "It's aloe vera."
"Aloe vera?" Cato repeated, tasting the words carefully. "Never heard of it."
"We use it all the time in my district," she continued, glancing up at him. "Sometimes we'll be out for way too long riding fence or herding cattle...the sunburns can get wicked. So we put this on them, and it speeds the healing right along."
"Well, at least your sponsors aren't stupid," he laughed, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "You definitely had a peely face. Although I'm not quite sure how a sunburn is a game-changing issue."
"You'd be surprised," she murmured, looking up at him through her hair. "Think about what a sunburn does to you: tightens your skin, makes it hurt to move. Some people don't have a very high pain tolerance...a slathering of aloe vera might mean the difference between life and death for them."
Why did I just tell him that?! Why couldn't I have just said it was moisturizing lotion and I used to be very fond of having soft skin? Now the second he burns a little he'll use it all, or worse he'll—
Evania didn't even have time to finish her train of thought before he'd snatched the bottle from her grip.
"So basically if I let you keep this it'll give you an unfair advantage over me?"
"Cato..." she gazed at him, at a frustrated loss for words. To say it wouldn't would be a lie and they both knew it. To say that it would would mean immediate removal of her precious aloe vera.
"Well?"
"Just give it back!" she finally said, glaring at him. "It's not like me having non-constant pain is going to alter your chances of winning."
"You just said it could!"
Dammit... "Cato!" she growled, jumping up and latching onto the arm that had coiled back to throw the bottle as far as it would go like a striking snake. He struggled against her, snarling and cussing at her until he finally froze, realizing he needed to regroup.
"Let go of my arm, bitch."
"Let go of my bottle, asswipe."
"I asked you first." He smirked at her, chuckling to himself.
She grunted as his elbow connected with her stomach. "I don't really care. Let. Go. Of my. Sponsor. Gift."
"Nahh." he said, turning so that she was stuck between his side and the wall of the cave. Suddenly in peril of being squished to death, she began pushing against him with all her might,
"Cato! Please!"
"Please what? You can't have everything, you know."
"Please stop hurting me!"
He froze, a frown overtaking his face. Like she'd become engulfed in flames, he backed away from her. She dropped to the ground like a stone, and he threw the bottle to the ground with severe force, causing it to explode.
"There." he snarled before turning and striding from the cave.
Evania sat there alone for a few hours, eyes teary from his outburst. She wasn't sure why it mattered to her, so she got angry and sat there, meticulously scooping globs of aloe vera onto the biggest piece of plastic left intact. It was kinda gross now, not to mention the fact that it would be useless in a matter of days, if not hours.
With shaky fingers, she turned to pick up the smaller fragments of busted plastic, just in time to see a bloodstained Cato come striding in the doorway.
He took a look at her from the corner of his eye, and they softened.
Sighing, she debated saying something to him but then thought better of it. He had an odd expression, and it'd probably be a better idea to let him start a conversation if he wanted one.
He didn't.
"Would you like help cleaning that off?" she finally asked him, gesturing to the giant smear of blood across him, splattering his face.
He snorted. "It won't matter. I'm about to go make it worse. I just finished off that girl from 6, at least I think she was from 6. That doesn't matter either because she's dead now. I stuck a sword in her gut and twisted."
Evania felt herself blanch at the imagined pain that girl had just experienced.
"It wasn't anything like the first time I found you," he continued, beginning to pace. "You were a fast little bitch, and you had some form of fight in you even when you asked me to make it quick. Even contemplating death, you weren't ready to die."
You're wrong, Cato. I was ready to die, and almost glad to do so. Whatever fight you saw in me must've been pure self-preservation.
"No, this girl, she begged. She begged so hard I thought she was gonna try and fuck me right there...I just can't believe the bitch thought I would rather fuck her than kill her. She actually thought I don't enjoy it."
"Do you?" Evania asked, blinking at him sadly.
"Of course...it's such a powerful feeling, watching the light in someone's eyes go out and knowing that you were the one that made the difference that changed it. Fucking isn't the same...you don't have to take control, the bitch gives it to you without any fight whatsoever."
Now it was her turn to snort. "I wouldn't know."
"Wouldn't you?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head.
"You mean, you've made it this far into the Games and you haven't killed a single Tribute?"
"Nope."
He frowned. "That's just not acceptable."