Chapter 10: Worth The Wait
Everything they've been waiting for…
A knock on the door echoes through her apartment. He's here. What happens now?
They made out against the side of the Ice Center until the cold took its toll. She wanted to drag him home with her right then but Peeta was more practical. He had to be at the bakery. It was his last night before he stops working to concentrate on training. They were expecting him. It was torture to tear away but maybe they needed time to think.
"Can I come to your place after?" he asked between kisses.
She nodded her answer.
The knock sounds again. She opens the door. It must be snowing outside, there are flakes melting in his curls. "Hi." is all he gets out before she is in his arms pressing into him and kissing him again and again. He's not even in the door completely before she tugs his coat off his shoulders and lets it fall to the floor. Peeta tries to close the door, eager to close the rest of the world out but, finds his coat in the way. He kicks it clear. When the door finally clicks closed he falls back against it with Katniss peppering his neck with kisses and he moans softly.
"Tell me this is real."
"It's real, Peeta. I want you." She jumps up to wrap her legs around him and he catches her. She wants every part of her body against him and with the height difference this is the only way. Peeta steps away from the door, carrying her. He intends to bring her back to her bedroom but she starts to grind against him and the couch will have to do. He lowers her to the cushions and his feet still wet from the snow, slip. He crashes on top of her but she doesn't care. She's already struggling to remove his sweater. Her hands spread across the warm skin of his chest, she can feel the muscles moving beneath her fingers and it's not enough. It'll never be enough, she pulls him against her again. Her shirt has slipped up and it's only a matter of him pulling it over her head to rid themselves of it and to be skin to skin for the first time. "Oh no!" Katniss startles and they both freeze in place.
"What, What's wrong?" Peeta tries to sit up to face her but she holds him in place.
"Please tell me you have a condom?" she mutters into the back of his neck as she clings to him. Peeta reaches up to remove the arms clutching his shoulders. He peels her off him, stands and walks to the door to rummage through the pockets of his long forgotten parka. As he returns to her he holds up the foil wrapped packets.
"They're even gold!" He says tossing them to her. The sight of her laughing as she lay half dressed, half on half off the gray couch is a sight he'll never forget. He toes off his boots and stands entranced at the sight.
Enjoying the view in front of her as well, words as they often do, fail Katniss. It's that little voice in her head that finally speaks up. "OFF!" it says and Katniss points to his jeans.
There's a small hesitation that Katniss doesn't understand at first. His eyes find hers in askance, are you sure? Her eyes never waiver and Peeta begins to undo the button of his jeans. He drops them to the floor as Katniss' eyes lower. Still in a pair of boxer briefs, snug to his body. She sighs as she sees the outline of him through the fabric. She knows that unlike other men this isn't the approval he's seeking so, she lowers her eyes even more. The prosthetic he his wearing begins just below his natural knee, with the stabilizing brace rising above it. It's metallic with only the foot modeled to look real. She doesn't look away, she studies it then turns her eyes upward again. Involuntarily she licks her lips as she scans his body and that's all the approval he needs. She lifts her arms to beckon him back to her and he kneels, one knee on the couch between her legs before lowering himself to her again.
He spreads his hands wide across her chest, moving gently up until his thumbs tease her nipples through the lace bralette she's wearing. His fingers follow the fabric to her back as he searches, but fails, to find a clasp. Moving one hand to the front, again he finds no clasp. Katniss giggles and sits up to help. "Just pull it off." She says and in a quick second has it slipped over her head and flung across the room. The look of wonder on his face as he sees her the first time makes Katniss' heart burst. He lowers his head and brings his mouth to cover one mound. Katniss responds with a moan as she falls back onto the couch. She wiggles against his groin in circles matching the movement of his tongue. "Now Peeta, please." Standing, he sheds his briefs and watches as she removes the rest of her clothes
It isn't the romantic, magical moment they both had fantasized about for their first time. There will be time for romance and discovery later. Instead it's physical, demanding and hungry, the desperate coupling of two people denied what they both needed for too long. His thrusts set a relentless pace with a possessive hold on her hips. He is lost in the delicious feel of her. Katniss braces herself, pushing against the arms of her sofa, matching his thrusts with a roll of her hips. He's overcome with his need for her and brings a hand between them to take her along with him. His words in her ear, "Come for me, Katniss." do their intended job and she bucks against him, as he releases.
Physically spent, he falls on top of her. Her breathing is heavy beneath his chest. His own is panted into her neck. They lay still, recovering and listening to the other breathing. "We're athletes, we shouldn't be this winded." He says breaking the quiet. They laugh together.
"Stay tonight." She says.
"Always," he answers.